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o 


THE  SALMON   FISHER. 


BY 


CHARLES  HALLOCK, 

Author  of  '*The  Fishing  Tourist." 


IHE    HARRIS    PUBLISHING    COMPANY, 

10  Warren  Street,  New  York. 

1890. 


•  ••lBIBi«a«iV> 


Copyright,  1890,  by  Charles  Hallock. 


6  «r 

,H3S 


To  the 

Hon.  Allan  Gilmour. 

of  Ottawa.  Can., 

Eminent  among  Salmon  Fishers, 

This  Little  Manual 

Is  Respectfully  Inscribed 

by  the  Author. 


PREFATORY. 


The  "  Salmon  Fisher  "  in  all  the  glory  of  his  triumph  is 
depicted  in  the  illustration  which  taces  the  title  page  of  my 
little  manual.  A  Salmon  on  a  rod  is  as  difficult  to  handle 
as  Salmon  Angling  with  a  pen  ;  and  if  we  two,  the  gaffer 
and  the  writer,  can  but  fix  the  one  and  the  other  deftly  on 
the  point  of  our  respective  irons,  we  may  well  rejoice  at 
the  successful  consummation.  While  I  am  not  confident 
that  my  treatise  will  receive  the  fulsome  commendation 
hoped  tor,  I  can  say  this  much,  that  the  aforesaid  vignette 
of  the  gillie  gaffing  the  salmon,  which  I  confess  to  have 
prigged  from  the  menu  card  of  the  Fly-fishers'  Club,  ot 
London,  England,  done  on  the  nth  day  of  last  December 
under  the  espionage  of  the  worthy  William  Senior,  of  the 
Field,  is  the  only  truly  correct  representation  of  the  act 
that  I  have  ever  seen  ;  and  if  the  reader  will  but  contem- 
plate it  con  atnore  before  attempting  perusal  of  my  book, 
he  will  be  able  to  wade  through  its  pages  with  a  greater 
degree  ot  interest  than  he  otherwise  might. 

CHARLES  HALLOCK. 


CONTENTS. 


PART  I. 
Distribution    op    the    Salmon. 

PART  II. 
Lite  History  op  the  Salmon. 

PART  III. 
Technology  of  Salmon  Fishing. 

PART  IV. 
Salmon   Fishing   in   the   Abstract. 

PART  V. 
Luxury  op  Salmon  Waters. 


PART  VI. 
Itinerary  of  the  Salmon  Rivers. 


II 


! 


!ii 


A  bite  I    Hurrah  I  the  lengthening  line  extends; 
Above  the  tugging  ash  the  arched  reed  bends. 
He  struggles  hard  and  noble  sport  wlU  yield. 
My  liege,  ere  wearied  out  he  quits  the  field. 


—Oppian, 


^tafrtBufinn  of  il}t  Salmon. 


fHE  GEOGRAPHICAL  RANGE  of  the  Family 
_  Salmonidae  is  included  within  a  belt  of  thirty 
to  forty  degrees  width  which  girts  the  entire 
Northern  Hemisphere  from  latitude  40  degrees  up 
into  the  extreme  Arctic  region,  extending  across  the 
continents  of  Europe,  Asia,  and  America ;  in  all 
three  of  which  it  is  indigenous  and  equally  abund- 
ant. On  the  Pacific  ocean  the  belt  dips  down  to  the 
30th  parallel  and  takes  in  the  waters  of  Southern 
California  on  its  eastern  shore  and  those  of  China 
and  Japan  on  the  west,  but  in  all  Atlantic  waters 
the  extreme  southern  limit  is  about  40  degrees. 

In  thii^  widely  distributed  and  very  reputable 
Family  of  migratory,  non-migratory,  and  anadro- 


10  THE    SALMON    FISHER. 

mous  species  are  included  the  whitefish,  graylings, 
caplins,  eulachans,  trouts,  charrs,  and  smelts,  and 
the  most  prominent  of  them  all  are  the  Salmons, 
which  constitute  the  subject  of  this  sketch.  These 
ure  divided  specifically  as  well  as  geographically  into 
two  characteristic  classes,  of  which  one  is  known  as 
Salmo  (the  leaper)  and  the  other  as  Oncorhynchus 
(hook  nose.)  Of  the  latter  there  are  five  recognized 
species  which  are  ennumerated  as  follows  in  Jordan 
&  Gilbert's  amended  Synopsis  of  Fishes  (1883) : 

Specixb.  Bakoe. 

Dog  Salmon  ( O.  Keta) Sacramento  River  to  Bering  Strait. 

Humpback  (O.  Gorhuscha) '•         to  Eotzebue  Sound. 

Silver  Salmon  (O.  A'ijuteft) "         "  •• 

Blueback  ( 0.  Nerka) Columbia  River  " 

Quiunat  (0.  Chouicha) Montery  to  the  Arctic  Ocean. 

All  of  these  have  their  several  peculiarities  very 
strongly  developed.  The  snout  in  the  adult  males 
in  summer  and  fall  is  greatly  distorted  ;  the  premax- 
ilaries  are  prolonged,  hooking  over  the  lower  jaw, 
which  in  turn  is  greatly  elongated  and  somewhat 
hooked  at  tip  ;  the  teeth  on  these  bones  greatly 
enlarged.  The  body  becomes  deep  ard  compressed, 
a  fleshy  lump  is  developed  in  front  of  the  dorsal  fin, 


THE  SALMON   FISHEB. 


11 


and  the  scales  of  the  back  become  imbedded  in  the 
flesh.  The  flesh,  which  is  red  and  lich  in  spring, 
becomes  dry  and  poor  then.  They  are  in  no  respect 
the  shapely  symmetrical,  clean,  lithe,  and  beautiful 
flsh  which  dominates  the  Atlantic  streams,  although 
the  Quinnat,  or  King  Salmon,  is  the  most  comely  of 
the  Ave  species  named  and  the  most  valuable  com- 
mercially, and  may  be  justly  called  the  typical  and 
royal  representative  of  the  Oncorhyncus  branch  of 
the  family.  He  is  a  good  deal  heavier  fish  than  his 
congener  of  the  Atlantic,  and  in  the  rivers  of  western 
Alaska  will  average  fifty  pounds,  individuals  often 
running  up  to  70  and  100  pounds  in  weight.  His 
range  is  even  more  remarkable  than  that  of  any  of 
his  related  species,  wherever  found,  for  they  not 
only  swarm  in  the  Sacramento,  in  Southern  Cali- 
fornia, but  are  found  crowding  the  channels  of  Bach's 
Great  Fish  River  and  its  tributaries  in  the  Arctic 
Ocean.  Upwards  of  thirty  millions  of  pounds  of 
Quinnat  Salmon  have  been  taken  yearly  in  the  Col- 
umbia River,  and  indeed  the  canned  commodity  is 
known  all  over  the  world  where  commerce  extends. 
Immense  numbers  ascend  the  large  rivers  of  the 


12 


THE  SALMON   FISHEB. 


Pacific  coast  and  Bering  Sea  in  spring  and  summer, 
moving  up  sometimes  a  thousand  miles  and  more  (as 
in  the  Yukon)  until  they  are  ready  to  spawn,  after 
ivhich  most  or  all  of  those  which  have  reached  the 
upper  waters  perish  from  the  combined  exhaustion 
of  the  long  journey  and  the  labor  of  spawning.  The 
passage  of  the  river  is  a  sickly  spectacle,  maimed 
and  decaying  fish  in  myriads  offending  sight  and 
amell,  and  befouling  the  entire  length  of  the  water 
course  from  the  sea  to  its  springheads.  During 
the  mid-summer  period*  of  their  "  run  "  they  swim 
in  schools  ten  feet  deep,  or  more,  with  ranks  closed 
up  solid,  so  that  it  is  impossible  to  thrust  a  spear  or 
l)oat-hook  into  the  mass  without  fouling  a  fish.  In 
8ome  inlets  and  estuaries  on  the  Alaska  coast  I  have 
8een  them  jammed  together  so  that  they  could  not 
move  at  all ;  so  that  it  is  very  easy  to  comprehend 
bow  it  would  be  possible  for  a  person  to  cross  the 
stream  dry  shod  if  a  plank  were  laid  across  their 
protruding  backs. 

On  the  northern  Pacific  coast  the  tide  rises  some 
eighteen  feet  (in  some  localities  "very  much  more), 

*  The  heATiest  run  of  Atlantic  Salmon  is  in  the  autumn. 


THE   SALMON   FISHEB. 


1$ 


and  when  it  is  low  the  outflow  of  the  rivers  makes^ 
its  precipitate  passage  to  the  sea  by  a  series  of  rap- 
ids and  pools  ;  but  whenever  the  tide  begins  to  make, 
the  whole  vicinity  of  the  inlet,  or  channel,  at  once 
swarms  with  impatient  salmon,  and  as  the  channel 
gradually  fills  with  the  growing  flood  the  schools 
press  inward  and  upward  from  the  outside,  until 
finally,  when  the  tide  is  full,  the  stream  becomes  a 
slack  water  canal  of  which  every  cubic  foot  is  choked 
with  fish  wedged  tightly.  In  this  extremity  the 
helpless  salmon  become  an  easy  prey  to  bears  and 
other  animals,  as  well  as  men,  and  one  can  lift  them 
out  with  his  hands  until  he  is  tired  I  Of  course, 
under  such  conditions,  the  problem  of  rod-fishing 
requires  no  solution.  At  tide-water  there  is  always 
good  fishing  with  bait  and  spoon,  and  in  California 
and  Oregon  and  in  Puget  Sound,  fishing  by  these 
methods  is  much  in  vogue.  There  are  exceptional 
rivers,  notably  the  Clackamas,  in  Oregon,  where  fly- 
fishing may  be  practiced  at  certain  times  in  special 
localities,  the  fluvial  conditions  being  more  like 
those  of  the  Atlantic  rivers. 
As  has  been  mentioned,  there  are  five  varieties  of 


Illh 


14 


THE   SALMON    FISHER. 


salmon  on  the  Pacific,  and  some  one  of  these  is  to 
be  found  in  the  rivers,  in  greater  or  less  quantity, 
nearly  the  whole  year  round,  so  that  proper  condi- 
tions for  fly-fishing  are  afforded  if  the  angler  hap- 
pens to  strike  them.  Fourteen  Salmon  have  been 
taken  from  a  Clackamas  pool  in  one  day  by  a  single 
rod,  where  the  water  was  shoal  at  both  sides,  and 
abruptly  deepening  to  a  depth  of  six  or  seven  feet, 
with  a  current  of  about  ten  miles  an  hour  at  its 
Lead.  The  favorite  fly  is  of  a  reddish  cast,  though 
black-hackle,  coachman,  professor,  red  ibis,  and  a 
"wine  body  with  brown  speckled  wings  were  all  kill- 
ing flies.  June,  July,  and  August  were  found  to  be 
the  best  months  for  fly-fishing. 

Taxonomically,  Salmo  Quinnat  (0.  chouichay  now,) 
is  described  by  Jordan  &  Gilbert  as  follows  : 

Color  dusky  above ;  often  tinged  with  olivaceons  or  blueiah  ;  sides  and 
l)elow  silvery ;  head  dark  slaty,  usually  darker  than  the  body  and  little 
spotted ;  back  dorsal  fin  and  tail  usually  profusely  covered  with  round 
l)lack  spots ;  these  are  sometimes  few  but  very  rarely  altogether  wanting ; 
sides  of  head  and  caudal  fin  with  a  peculiar  metallic  tin-colored  lustre ; 
male,  about  the  spawning  season  (October),  blackish,  more  or  less  tinged 
or  blotched  with  dull  red.  Head  conic,  rather  pointed  in  the  females 
and  spring  males.  Maxillary  rather  slender,  the  small  eye  behind  its  mid- 
dle. Teeth  small,  larger  on  sides  of  lower  jaw  than  in  front ;  vomerine 
teeth  very  few  and  weak,  disappearing  in  the  males.    In  the  males,  in  lAte 


THE   SALMON   FISHER. 


15 


Bnmmer  and  fall,  the  jaws  become  elongate  and  distorted,  and  the  anterior 
teeth  much  enlarged,  as  in  the  related  species.  The  body  then  becomes 
deeper,  more  compressed  and  arched  at  the  shoulders,  and  the  color  nearly 
black.  Preopercle  and  oporrle  strongly  convex.  Body  comparatively 
robust,  its  depth  greatest  near  its  middle.  Ventrals  inserted  behind  mid* 
die  of  dorsal,  ventral  appendage  half  the  length  of  the  fin  ;  caudal — unus- 
ual in  this  genus — strongly  forked  on  a  rather  slender  caudal  peduncle. 
Flesh  red  and  rich  in  spring,  becoming  paler  in  the  fall  as  the  spawning 
season  approaches.  Head  4 ;  depth  4.  B  15-16  to  18-19,  the  number  on  the 
two  sides  always  unlike  ;  D  11 ;  A  16.  Gill-rakers  usually  9x14,  i.  e.,  9  above 
the  angle  and  14  below.  Pyloric  eoeca  140-185.  Scales  usually  27-146-29, 
the  number  in  a  longitudinal  series  varying  from  140-156,  and  in  California 
specimens  as  low  as  135. 

Very  different  is  the  Atlantic  Salmon  {S.  Solar 
Linnoeus)  to  the  scientific  eye  when  compared  with 
the  foregoing  and  described  by  Jordan  &  Gilbert,  to 
wit : 

Body  moderately  elongate,  symmetrical,  not  generally  compressed.  Head 
rather  low.  Mouth  moderate,  the  maxillary  reaching  just  past  the  eye, 
its  length  2J— 3  in  head  ;  in  young  specimens  the  maxillary  is  proportion- 
ately shorter.  Preoperculum  with  a  distinct  lower  limb,  the  angle  rounded. 
Scales  comparatively  large,  rather  larger  posteriorly,  silvery  and  well  im- 
bricated in  the  young,  becoming  imbedded  in  adult  males.  Coloration  in 
the  adult  brownish  above,  the  sides  more  or  less  silvery,  with  numerous 
black  spots  on  sides  of  head,  ou  body,  and  on  fins,  and  red  patches  along 
the  sides  in  the  males  ;  young  specimens  (parrs)  with  about  eleven  dusky 
cross  bars,  besides  black  spots  and  red  patches,  the  color,  as  well  as  the 
form  of  the  head  and  body,  varying  much  with  age,  food  and  condition ; 
the  black  spots  in  the  adult  often  x-shaped,  or  xx-shaped.  Head  4 ;  depth 
4.  Br.  11 ;  D  11 ;  A  9 ;  scales  23-120-21 ;  vertebrae  60 ;  pyloric  coeca  about 
66.    Weight  16-40  lbs.    North  Atlantic,  ascending  all  suitable  rivers,  and 


16 


THE  SALMON  FISHEB. 


|i 


r.  ( 


the  region  north  of  Cape  Ood ;  sometimes  permanently  landlocked  in 
lakes,  where  its  habits  and  coloration  (but  no  tangible  8i>eciflc  characters,) 
change  somewhat,  when  it  becomes  (in  America)  var.  Sabaga*.  One  of  the 
best  known  and  most  valued  of  fishes. 

The  above  are  the  latest  authorized  formula  of  the 
Atlantic  salmon,  though  the  weight  is  underrated  ; 
for  in  the  rivers  Restigouche  and  Grand  Cascape- 
diac,  in  Canada,  specimens  have  been  taken  which 
weighed  60  lbs.,  and  in  Europe  over  80  lbs.  This 
species  {Solar)  is  the  representative  salmon  of  Europe, 
the  New  England  coast,  the  St.  Lawrence  basin,  and 
the  Maritime  Provinces  of  the  Canadian  Dominion, 
and  as  this  is  the  only  true  Atlantic  salmon,  it  will 
be  convenient  for  identification,  and  fully  serve  the 
purpose  of  this  paper,  to  divide  the  Family  generi- 
cally  into  Atlantic  Salmon  and  Pacific  Salmon,  and 
so  to  refer  to  them  in  the  matter  of  designation  and 
distinction.  With  respect  to  the  Atlantic  variety, 
its  southern  natural  limit,  within  historical  time,  is 
unquestionably  the  Hudson  River.  [It  is  not  within 
the  scope  of  this  article  to  refer  to  introduced  or 
transplanted  species].  That  the  Hudson  was  a  sal- 
mon stream  when  discovered  by  Hendrick  Hudson 


*  Also  var.  Winninish.— Ed. 


THE   SALMON    FISHEB. 


17 


seems  certain,  for  experimeuts  of  the  U.  S.  Fish  Com- 
mission have  demonstrated  that  salmon  planted  in  its 
headwaters  will  endeavor  to  return  there  to  spawn  in 
obedience  to  a  well  known  instinct.  But  since  Hud- 
son's advent  geological  changes  must  have  occurred 
in  upper  tributaries  to  bar  the  passage  to  suitable 
spawning  grounds  ;  and  besides,  its  present  com- 
paratively turbid  condition,  discolored  as  it  is  by 
commerce,  manufactories,  and  the  wash  of  farm  lands 
lying  along  its  entire  length,  is  by  no  means  as  favor- 
able to  reproduction  as  when  it  was  in  its  primitive 
state.  With  the  ascent  facilitated  by  fishways,  a 
short  time  only  will  be  necessary  to  demonstrate 
whether  the  salmon  desire  to  be  ^permanently  domi- 
ciled. 

As  to  their  northernmost  range :  We  learn  from 
Lieut.  Fred.  Schwatka,  who  in  1887  crossed  the  di- 
vide which  lies  northwest  of  Hudson  Bay,  and  be- 
tween it  and  the  Arctic  Ocean,  that  fish  life  was  far 
more  abundant  on  the  Arctic  slope  of  the  watershed 
than  on  the  Hudson  Bay  slope,  although  the  latter, 
like  all  sub-Arctic  areas,  is  far  from  being  the  pisca- 
torial desert  which  some  persons  suppose.     Fish,  he 


18 


THE  SALMON   FISHER. 


P! 


Ill 

rii 


says,  became  more  numerous  as  his  party  advanced 
northward,  and  "  hardly  a  lake  failed  to  respond  to 
our  angling  efforts."  Said  lakes  constituted  the 
feeders  of  rapid  affluents  of  the  Great  Fish  and  Ket- 
tle rivers,  and  were  inhabited  by  monster  salmon 
weighing  up  to  seventy-five  pounds,  whose  vertical 
transverse  sections  were  found  to  measure  twenty  (!) 
inches  deep.  Schwatka  is  of  the  opinion  that  a  very 
large  proportion  of  these  salmon  remain  under  the 
ice  the  greater  part  of  the  year,  for  the  "  angling  " 
which  he  speaks  of  is  mainly  done  through  wells  cut 
through  ice  six  feet  thick,  into  which  bait  and  spear 
are  inserted;  and  he  suggests  that  these  fish  become 
imprisoned  in  deep  holes  by  the  water  freezing  to 
the  bottom  of  the  shallowest  places  and  inclosing 
them.  The  number  must  certainly  be  very  consid- 
erable, as  the  Esquimaux  could  most  always  get  a 
fish  by  thrusting  a  spear  into  the  holes  at  random; 
and  the  fish  were  very  fat,  so  fat,  he  says,  that  they 
could  be  fried  in  their  own  oil  if  only  the  smallest 
amount  of  grease  were  first  put  into  the  pan  to  pre- 
vent burning.  No  doubt  these  fish  recuperated  in 
these  ice-locked  lakes  after  they  had  spawned,  and 
they  must  have  found  an  abundance  of  food.    Arc- 


THE  SALMON   FISHEB. 


19 


tic  Balmon  are  not  singular  in  this  respect.  There 
is  invariably  a  fag  end  of  the  autumn  run  which  re- 
mains all  winter  in  the  headwaters  of  the  Laureutian 
tributaries,  and  only  last  winter  (1890)  as  many  as 
two  hundred  well  conditioned  salmon  were  taken 
through  the  ice  with  nets  by  market  fishermen  at  the 
head  of  Belisle  Bay,  a  pocket  of  the  river  St.  John, 
in  New  Brunswick,  thirty  miles  al>ove  the  mouth  of 
the  river.  This  bay  in  the  winter  season  is  heavily 
stocked  with  pickerel,  chub,  suckers  and  other  small 
fresh-water  fish,  though  at  very  high  tide  the  water 
may  become  slightly  brackish.  Mr.  I.  H.  Phair,  of 
Fredericton,  wlio  first  communicated  his  observa- 
tions to  the  Forest  and  Stream,  states  that  the  salmon 
are  poor  and  dark  colored  in  the  early  part  of  the 
winter,  but  as  the  season  advances  they  improve  and 
become  exceedingly  fat.  The  stomachs  of  those 
which  were  examined  were  found  to  be  full  of  young 
fish,  and  a  i)ickerel  six  or  eight  iuche^  long  was 
taken  from  the  mouth  of  one  of  them.  There  were 
never  brighter  or  fatter  fish,  Mr.  Phair  says;  but 
when  boiled  a  slight  earthy  or  ground  flavor  was  de- 
tected, like  that  peculiar  to  the  land-locked  salmon. 
These  were  of  course  late  salmon  which  remained 
up  stream  all  winter. 


^1 


U.1  i 

if    f 


20 


THE  SALMON   FISHEB. 


Undoubtedly  there  is  but  a  single  run  of  Arctic 
salmon.  Their  season  is  very  short  and  they  have 
scarcely  time,  between  the  melting  and  the  freezing" 
of  the  rivers,  to  make  their  periodical  visit  to  the  se& 
and  return.  In  July  the  Indians  spear  them  while 
ascending  the  rapids,  which  are  then  free  of  ice;  but 
by  the  end  of  August  everything  is  tight  again,  and 
the  salmon  are  left  to  complete  their  duties  of  pro- 
creation and  their  subsequent  recuperation,  neither 
of  which,  it  may  be  supposed,  is  rapid.  Generally 
the  fish  run  up  in  detached  and  straggling  bunches^ 
but  occasionally  in  "long  drawn  schools." 

All  this  is  new  and  interesting,  ft  illustrates  the 
philosophy  of  prompt  adaptation  to  environment, 
and  demonstrates  why  fixed  rules  cannot  be  predi- 
cated upon  desultory  observations  of  fish  movements. 
The  circumpolar  habitat  of  The  Salmon  has  been 
very  little  investigated.  Arctic  explorers  have  paid 
scarcely  any  attention  to  the  fish  fauna  of  that  zone, 
not  even  attempting  to  catch  fish  for  the  mess  table, 
but  depending  almost  wholly  on  ships'  stores  for 
subsistence.  Some  of  them,  like  the  ill-fated  Dan- 
enhower  party  on  the  Lena  River,  in  Siberia,  died  of 
starvation  with  an  abundance  of  fish  life  all  around 


h 


THE   SALMON   FISHER. 


21 


>f 


them,  and  all  for  lack  of  the  simple  knowledge  of 
habitat  and  methods  of  fishing  employed  by  the  na- 
tives. The  Schwatka  observation  party  of  1883,  on 
the  north  coast  of  Alaska,  did  far  better,  for  he  im- 
pressed into  important  service  his  natural  taste  for 
angling  and  his  experience  as  an  observer  of  fish 
liabits  and  local  devices.  As  has  been  stated  above, 
lie  found  an  abundance  of  food — in  fact,  the  profuse- 
ness  of  aquatic  life  in  that  region  is  unequalled  else- 
where according  to  his  assertion.  But  Mr.  Schwat- 
ka's  observations  have  been  confined  to  a  segment 
only  of  the  polar  belt.  Very  few  persons  outside  of 
the  Hudson's  Bay  Fur  Company's  agents  know  any- 
thing about  the  fish  of  the  Arctic  coast,  and  they 
are  not  usually  scientific  men,  able  to  differentiate 
or  classify  species.  We  may  be  permitted  to  say, 
however,  that  the  subject  of  Sub- Arctic  SalmonidsB 
is  one  which  has  engaged  the  attention  of  the 
writer  for  thirty  years,  and  that  in  the  course  of  that 
period  he  has  been  able  to  gather,  from  his  own 
personal  visits  and  from  extended  inquiry,  a  good 
deal  of  substantial  and  accurate  information,  whereby 
the  distribution  of  the  Salmon  from  ocean  to  ocean 
lias  been  measureably  ascertained  and  the  species 


ilil 


■  9 


i 


22 


THE  SALMON   FISHER. 


identified.  The  inter-oceanic  boundary  of  the  Atlan- 
tic and  Pacific  Salmon  has  been  determined,  and  the 
range  of  the  sea  trout  from  Labrador  to  Alaska 
established.  For  this  result  and  consummation  I 
am  especially  indebted  to  Prof.  Robert  Bell,  M.  D., 
assistant  director  of  the  Geological  Survey  of  Canada^ 
whose  scientific  researches  make  his  testimony  in- 
valuable and  irrefutable.  To  summarize  the  results 
so  far  as  obtained,  it  may  be  stated  that  the  Atlantic 
Salmon  (mlar)  is  abundant  along  the  entire  Labra- 
dor coast  and  up  around  Cape  Chidley,  its  extreme 
northern  point,  in  about  latitude  62  ® ,  and  thence 
around  into  the  Koksok,  Georges  River,  Whale 
River  and  other  rivers  of  the  great  Ungava  Bay,  on 
the  north  coast  of  Labrador.  The  west  entrance  of 
Hudson  Strait  seems  to  be  the  limit  of  its  range. 
The  Pacific  Salmon  (Onchorhyncus  chouicha)  begins 
on  the  mainland  of  the  continent  about  Wager 
Inlet,  and  is  netted  somewhere  around  Melville  Pen- 
insula, and  thence  westward.  Between  Wager  Inlet 
and  the  western  entrance  of  Hudson  Strait  the  Hud- 
son Bay  is  projected  southward  in  one  tremendous 
indentation^  and  in  its  waters  no  Salmon  are  found — 


THE  SALMON   FISHER. 


23 


only  sea  trout  (hearnii  of  Rich.  Frank,  Joum.  TOfi, 
and  immaculatuH  and  hudnomcuH  of  Storer  and  Giin- 
ther).  Sea  trout  range  from  Maine  and  the  Mari- 
time Provinces  all  the  way  up  the  East  Atlantic 
coast  northward  into  Ungava  Bay,  and  through  Hud- 
son Strait  to  Bay  of  Hope's  Advance  and  Baffin  Land. 
But  while  they  are  so  abundant  in  the  Hudson  Bay 
proper,  they  are  not  found  in  James  Bay,  which  is 
an  immense  projection  of  the  same.  The  rivers  on 
the  west  side  of  the  Bay  are  not  suitable  for  spawn- 
ing, as  they  flow  out  of  a  prairie  country  which 
is  often  swampy  or  marshy,  besides  freezing  up  solid 
from  the  middle  of  October  to  the  first  of  May.  For 
some  reason  salmon  do  not  frequent  the  rivers  on 
the  east  side  of  the  bay,  although  they  flow  from  the 
same  watershed  which  throws  water  in  the  opposite 
direction  into  the  notable  tributaries  of  the  St.  Law- 
rence. Probably  the  vast  accumulations  of  ice 
which  obstruct  the  approaches  to  Hudson  Bay  for 
almost  eight  months  of  the  year  are  a  sufficient  ob- 
stacle to  the  entrance  of  salmon  there.  So,  also,  a 
freezing  of  the  Hudson  Bay  affluents  may  be  a  cause 
for  their  barrenness;  to  which  may  be  added  a  pre- 


hi 


24 


THE    SALMON    FISHER. 


'! 


sumable  dearth  in  those  waters  of  the  fish  food  upon 
which  salmon  fatten  previous  to  entering  rivers  to 
spawn,  and  which  recent  observation  has  discovered 
to  consist  largely  of  Crustacea  such  as  shrimps, 
prawns,  and  mysis,  as  well  as  of  annelids  or  sand 
worms,  of  herring  sile,  cephalopoda  and  floating  in- 
vertebrata.  Low  temperature  of  itself  would  pre- 
sent no  interposition  to  the  salmon,  for  the  colder 
the  water  the  larger  their  size  and  the  better  their 
quality.  When  fish  get  direct  access  to  a  river  the 
moment  the  ice  goes  out  in  the  spring,  the  larger 
they  are  and  the  finer  in  flavor.  "When  the  ice  has 
gone  out  a  month  or  tv/o  before  the  run  begins,  the 
fish  are  smaller  and  inferior  because  the  water  has 
had  time  to  get  warm.  It  is  so  on  the  Pacific  as 
well  as  on  the  Atlantic.  In  the  Port  Medway  Kiver, 
in  Nova  Scotia,  the  run  is  in  February;  in  the  Yu- 
kon, Alaska,  it  occurs  early  in  May;  in  the  Godbout, 
on  the  Lower  St.  Lawrence,  it  takes  place  in  June, 
and  there  the  fish  are  notoriously  small.  In  the 
Sacramento  and  other  California  rivers  both  the  size 
and  flavor  are  impaired  by  the  low  latitude.  The 
salmon  of  the  Columbia  are  by  no  means  as  fine  or 


THE   SALMON   FISHER.  25 

as  large  as  those  of  Alaska,  although  the  species  are 
the  same. 

"West  of  the  Hudson  Bay  the  sea  trout  (S.  canaden- 
sis or  immaculatus)  are  replaced  by  S.  malma — so 
stated  by  Dr.  Bean.*  The  Hudson  Bay  waters  also 
seem  to  separate  the  habitats  of  the  Atlantic  and  Pa- 
cific salmon.  Thence,  westward,  the  range  of  the 
O.  chouicha  continues  indefinitely.  As  has  been 
stated,  it  is  abundant  in  the  Great  Fish  Kiver  and  its 
tributaries,  but  it  is  not  found  in  the  Mackenzie, 
some  degrees  to  the  westward.  Diaries  of  resident 
agents  of  the  Hudson  Bay  Company  show  that  the 
ice  is  seldom  out  of  that  river,  even  in  the  hottest 
months.  It  covers  the  Great  Slave  Lake  in  June 
and  is  floating  about  the  delta  of  the  Mackenzie  in 
July  and  August.  Representatives  of  the  Salmoni- 
da3  found  in  that  river  are  sea  trout  and  a  species  of 
Coregonus,  or  whitefish,  known  as  "  inconnu,"  which 
is  very  little  esteemed  for  food.  There  are  compar- 
atively few  rivers  along  the  Arctic  shore,  and  in 
many  of  these  no  salmon  are  found,  for  physical  rea- 


*  I  have  caught  and  handled  trout  on  the  southcaRtem  Alaska  coast  which 
seemed  to  me  to  be  identical  with  the  Atlantic  sea  trout. 


26 


THE   SALMON   FISHER. 


I 


dons,  doubtless,  as  is  true  also  of  Atlantic  coast 
rivers.  There  may  be  also  physical  reasons  to  ac- 
count for  the  big  break  in  the  ranks  of  the  salmon 
made  by  the  interposition  of  the  Hudson  Bay,  and 
when  those  are  ascertained  scientists  may  be  able  to 
discover  why  the  fish  to  the  eastward  of  the  bay  are 
of  one  species  (salar)  and  those  to  the  westward  of 
another  (chouicha). 


r 


il 


ast 
ae- 
on 
nd 
to 
re 
of 


Itpe  l^Ufoxu  of  l})^  ;§armon. 


life  IftgfDtti  of  flr^  Salmon. 


R.  GUNTHER  demonstrates  not  only  how 
fishes  can  gradually  accommodate  them- 
selves to  either  salt  or  fresh  water,  but 
Ihat  there  are  some  species  which  seem  quite  in- 
different to  a  rapid  change  from  one  to  the  other. 
Individuals  of  the  same  species  may  be  found  at 
some  distance  out  at  sea,  while  others  live  in  rivers 
beyond  the  influence  of  the  tide,  or  even  in  inland 
fresh  waters  that  are  practically  land-locked.  This 
i:)ostulate  covers  the  case  of  the  fresh-water  variety 
of  Atlantic  salmon  known  as  S.  salar,  var.  sehago, 
which,  in  all  resj^ects  save  the  habit  of  anadromy,  it 
80  nearly  resembles.  The  analogy  becomes  es- 
pecially noticeable  when  the  fact  is  substantiated 
that  the  sea  salmon  subsist  largely  on  caplin  and  the 


THE  SALMON   FISHER. 


27 


land-locked  variety  on  smelts.  Land-locked  salmon 
spawn  in  autumn,  contemporaneously  with  the  sea- 
salmon.  The  smelt  spawns  in  early  spring,  and  ova 
hatch  about  the  time  the  salmon  fry  begin  to  forage 
for  themselves. 

Under  the  increasing  light  which  we  now  have^ 
scientists  believe  that  the  natural  habitat  of  the  en- 
tire family  of  Salmonidae  is  fresh  water,  and  that  it 
is  the  sea  salmon  w^hich  has  become  erratic,  and  not 
the  land-locked  salmon  of  the  inland  lakes.  Salma 
solar  has  put  on  sea  habits,  and  so  have  others  of  his 
tribe  on  both  sides  of  the  Atlantic,  notably  the  sea 
trout.  Up  to  the  present  time  the  winninish  {wa-wa- 
nish  in  the  Indian  vernacular)  of  the  Saguenay 
River  have  been  popularly  suj^posed  to  keep  exclu- 
sively to  fresh  water,  and  the  salmon  of  Lake  Ontario 
and  its  tributaries  have  been  believed  not  to  enter 
salt  water,  although  both  have  direct  access  to  it. 
Keckoning  from  analogy,  it  may  be  logically  inferred 
that  the  habits  of  the  winninish  do  not  differ  mate- 
rially from  those  of  other  salmon  having  unob- 
structed access  to  the  sea,  only  that  the  peculiar 
conformation  of  the  Saguenay  region  and  the  extreme 


28 


THE  SALMON   FISHER. 


depth  of  the  river  have  hitherto  prevented  such 
practical  observations  as  are  necessary  to  establish 
osijential  physical  facts.  Therefore,  it  is  reasonable 
to  assume  that,  inasmuch  as  it  is  the  habit  of  all  sea 
salmon  to  revisit  their  native  rivers,  and  that  it  is 
quite  possible  for  experts  to  identify  the  fish  belong- 
ing to  each  respective  river,  the  winninish,  so  called, 
are  but  members  of  one  of  these  several  clans,  and 
that  they  too  visit  the  sea  periodically,  running  up 
in  June  and  July  ;  that  they  spawn  in  the  autumn  in 
the  tributaries  of  Lake  St.  John — in  nearly  all  of 
which  they  occur,  and  pass  their  winters  in  the  lake 
itself,  precisely  after  the  custom  of  other  sea  salmon 
similarly  situated.  They  are  not  seen  until  they 
reach  the  riffs  of  the  Chute  or  Grande  Discharge 
because  that  is  the  first  shoal  water  they  strike  after 
coming  out  of  the  tide.  In  places  the  Saguenay  is 
1,000  feet  deep,  and  up  to  Chicoutimi  itself  an  ex- 
treme average  depth  is  maintained.  Other  clans  of 
salmon  which  enter  the  river  deploy  into  the  Margue- 
rite, the  Mars,  the  Chicoutimi,  and  the  Little  Sague- 
nay, but  the  winninish,  of  a  somewhat  different  pat- 
tern, and  marked  with  the  xx  instead  of  the  round 


THE   SALMON    FISHER. 


29 


spots,  continue  to  extreme  headwaters  beyond  the 
lake  until  they  are  stopped  by  falls.  In  Lake  St. 
John  they  subsist  largely  upon  ivatouche,  or  whitefish, 
which  are  replaced  by  smelts  in  Lake  Sebago,  and 
other  waters  of  Maine  and  Canada,  and  by  caplin 
in  the  ocean.  Observers  cannot  but  be  impressed 
by  the  coincidence  that  these  several  food  fish  all 
belong  to  sub-species  of  Salmonidse,  and  that  salmon 
are  perhaps  more  partial  to  their  own  kind  as  an 
article  of  diet  than  to  aliens,  especially  when  they 
l^ose  as  ravenous  kelts  in  the  winter  season  and 
early  spring.  Farthermore,  it  must  be  added  that 
the  winninish  exhibit  the  peculiarities  of  all  salmon 
in  spawning  time.  As  the  season  progresses  they 
lose  their  lustrous  sheen  of  the  early  spring,  and  in 
fall  become  dark  and  cloudy,  and  thus  have  deceived 
some  superficial  observers  who  imagined  them  to  be 
different  species  of  the  same  fish. 

Some  twenty  years  ago  I  wrote  in  the  Fishing 
Tourist  to  the  effect  that  "  in  winter  they  are  scattered 
through  the  deep  water  of  Lake  St.  John,  and  in 
June  they  descend  to  the  series  of  rapids  below  to 
spawn."     I  wrote  under  the  impression  that  they 


30 


THE    SALMON    FISHER. 


were  a  landlocked  species.  My  only  ground  for  the 
conclusion  was  that  the  fish  were  never  seen  in  the 
lower  river.  [How  could  they  be  ?]  At  present,  in 
revision  of  that  antique  hypothesis,  I  would  write  : 
"In  winter  they  are  scattered  through  the  deep 
water  of  Lake  St.  John,  and  in  June  ascend  the  rapids 
to  spawn,"  having  previously  visited  the  sea,  which 
they  would  do  ad  libitum  at  any  season  of  the  year, 
being  at  no  time  ice-locked. 

The  above  characteristics  are  equally  true  of  the 
salmon  of  the  Schoodic  Lakes  and  the  St.  Croix  River 
in  Maine  and  New  Brunswick  ;  and  there  are  also 
the  same  fluvial  conditions,  the  lakes  with  their  trib- 
utaries or  feeders,  the  riffs  below  the  outlets,  and 
the  salt  sea  at  the  river's  mouth,  which  the  fish  in- 
stinctively sought  in  old  times  until  disbarred  by 
artificial  obstructions.  Indeed,  it  is  now  known 
that  the  range  of  the  landlocked  salmon  is  not  only 
conterminous  with  that  of  the  sea  salmon,  but  that  its 
types  correspond  with  the  Atlantic  and  Pacific  Ocean 
types.  It  is  not  only  distributed  throughout  Quebec, 
Ontario,  and  the  Maritime  Provinces  of  Canada,  as 
well  as  Maine,  but  it  occurs  in  British  Columbia  and 


ri,fm 


THE   SALMON   FISHER. 


31 


Idaho,  and  in  tributary  lakes  of  Lake  Superior, 
where  "it  is  called  red  trout  by  the  natives  and 
grows  to  the  size  of  40  lbs.,  and  is  not  to  be  con- 
founded with  the  common  lake  trout  (S.  namaycush) 
whose  flesh  is  white." — [L.  H.  Smith,  of  Strathroy, 
Canada,  in  London  Field.]  In  fact,  one  well  informed 
writer  (Dr.  Shufeldt),  whose  opinion  reflects  the 
modern  scientific  acceptation,  remarks  that  the  Fam- 
ily Salmonidse  is  one  which  we  now  know  dates  back 
as  far  as  the  tertiary  period.  Analogy  would  indi- 
cate that  they  developed  in  the  fresh  waters  of  the 
Northern  Hemisphere  in  obedience  to  the  law  of 
equal  conditions,  and  some  of  them  gradually 
acquired  the  habit  of  going  to  sea,  and  thus,  as  in 
the  case  of  the  salmon,  became  permanent.  In  obe- 
dience to  the  law  of  evolution  which  requires  each 
individual  to  pass  through,  in  his  short  cycle,  the 
same  changes  which  his  various  forms  of  ancestors 
have  in  the  slow  progress  of  ages,  the  young  must 
be  born  and  live  for  a  time  at  least  in  fresh  water  ; 
and  hence  we  find  our  salmon  coming  into  the  rivers 
to  deposit  their  spawn.  It  is  probable  that  at  the 
opening  of  the  glacial  epoch  the  fresh  waters  of 


32 


THE  SALMON   FISHER. 


-    1 


North  America  swarmed  with  various  Sahnonoid 
fishes."  Accordingly,  at  the  close  of  this  epoch,  all 
the  streams  and  basins  which  had  been  subjected  to 
its  influence  were  gouged  out  and  destroyed  and 
their  tenants  summarily  dispossessed.  One  direct 
result  was  to  drive  the  salmon  into  the  sea. 

An  English  writer  has  very  sagely  remarked  that 
"  the  wider  the  knowledge  possessed  of  salmon  and 
salmon  rivers,  the  less  inclined  the  possessor  of  that 
knowledge  is  to  dogmatize  on  the  applicability,  all 
round,  of  any  particular  fact  relating  to  the  habits, 
the  migrations,  or  the  seasonableness  of  fish."  It 
may  well  be  doubted  if  any  one  writer  is  qualified  to 
speak  ex  cathedra  on  the  subject  along  its  entire  line  ; 
but  inability  results  from  a  limited  sphere  of  obser- 
vation rather  than  the  inaccessibility  of  facts.  With- 
out comparative  data,  observers  are  all  at  sixes  and 
sevens,  for  there  is  nothing  constant  in  the  life  his- 
tory of  the  salmon  except  his  alternate  visits  to  the 
sea  and  river  ;  and  these  are  liable  to  be  disturbed 
by  a  score  of  contributory  causes,  such  as  sudden 
changes  of  temperature,  storms,  erratic  movements 
of  small  fish  on  which  they  feed^  the  raids  of  por- 


THE   SALMON   FISHER. 


33 


Le 


m 


poises  or  seals,  etc.,  etc.,  which  might  drive  off  a  run 
temporarily,  or  split  it  up  into  fragments.  Books 
are  correct  in  the  main  upon  the  cardinal  points  of 
a  salmon's  birth,  growth  and  vicissitudes,  and  they 
need  hardly  be  restated  here.  The  practical  natu- 
ralist has  learned  by  investigation  that  its  existence, 
like  man's,  is  divided  into  four  periods,  namely, 
infancy,  adolesence,  maturity,  and  rij^e  old  age,  and 
he  designates  these  several  stages  of  development 
by  the  name  of  Parr,  Smolt,  Grilse,  and  Salmon. 
Observation  has  taught  him  that  one  portion  of  this 
existence  is  passed  in  salt  water  and  the  remainder 
in  fresh  ;  and  that  these  conditions  are  the  necessary 
precedent  and  natural  sequence  of  procreation  ;  that 
many  of  the  species  die  in  the  attempt  to  reach  their 
spawning  grounds  ;  and  that  waste  and  mortality 
are  in  accordance  with  the  ordinary  phenomena  of 
reproduction  throughout  the  animal  creation.  The 
spawn  of  the  salmon  leaving  been  deposited  in  the 
gravel  of  the  rapid  upper  stream,  is  hatched  out  in 
due  course,  and  in  due  course  the  young  fry  reach 
their  period  of  adolescence  and  make  their  first 
venture  to  the  sea  in  the  motley  garb  of  smolts — 


84 


THE  SALMON   FISHER. 


1- 


..l. 


one-half  of  a  brood  preceding  the  other  by  a  long^ 
interval,  by  a  wise  provision  of  nature,  lest  the  lives 
of  an  entire  hatching  should  be  simultaneously  jeop- 
ardized by  some  untoward  casualty.  In  the  nour- 
ishing waters  of  the  ocean  the  smolt  gains  a  pound  in 
weight  per  month,  and  after  a  luxurious  summer 
returns  to  his  birthplace  in  the  blue  and  silver 
livery  of  a  grilse,  and  very  like  an  adult  in  appear- 
ance, many  of  the  males  having,  indeed,  attained 
sexual  maturity,  affording  no  end  of  sport  to  the 
angler  who  happens  to  get  one  on  his  fly.  The 
grilse  tarries  in  the  upper  river  until  the  following 
spring,  and  then  returns  to  the  sea  a  full  grown 
salmon,  recuperates  and  fattens  in  the  brine,  and 
again  ascends  at  last  on  its  eventful  mission  of  pro- 
creation. After  the  gravid  fish  have  spawned  they 
stay  in  the  river  all  winter  and  if  there  are  lakes  at 
their  headwaters  which  are  well  stocked  with  food 
they  soon  recuperate  and  pat  on  flesh  ;  but  if  not, 
they  play  havoc  with  the  salmon  peel  which  they 
find  in  the  main  river,  and  are  often  picked  up  by 
the  June  angler,  while  working  their  way  down  to 
salt  water,  still  pitifully  lean  and  emaciated  but 


THE  SALMON   FISHER. 


85 


r 
y 

lo 

it 


ravenous  to  extremity,  and  half  dazed  by  their  long 
abstinence.  They  are  called  **  kelts  "  then,  and  more 
disgusting  objects  can  hardly  be  imagined.  Their 
stomachs  are  shrunk  entirely  away  and  they  seem  to 
1)6  nothing  but  head,  back  and  tail.  They  have  lost 
fully  half  of  their  original  weight,  and  whatever 
scales  they  show  are  very  minute,  being  not  more 
than  one-eighth  their  natural  size.  In  mid-winter 
their  skin  hung  in  loose,  thick  folds,  and  the  scales 
all  sloughed  oflf.  These  small  ones  seen  now  are  a 
new  growth,  and  by  next  September  they  will  have 
regained  their  normal  size. 

Very  different  is  the  fresh-run  June  salmon. 
*What  can  be  more  beautiful  than  his  plump  and 
shapely  form,  broad  shoulders,  keen,  bright  eye  and 
armature  of  silver  resplendent  with  the  sparkling 
drops  of  the  limpid  river !  The  females  are  the  most 
comely,  being  readily  distinguished  by  their  shorter 
heads.  No  wonder  they  frolic  and  leap  for  joy 
when  they  find  themselves  in  the  clear,  cool  stream 
after  escaping  the  assassins  of  the  sea  and  the  dan- 
gers of  the  passage. 

A  good  deal  of  bosh  has  been  written  in  all  the 


[  1 1 : 

V 

» 

11, 


36 


THE   SALMON   FISHEB. 


books  since  Dame  Berner's  time,  about  salmon  not 
eating  when  ascending  to  their  spawning  grounds^ 
but  that  theory  is  now  wholly  exploded.  Indeed^ 
naturalists  are  able  to  declare  that  the  only  purpose 
for  which  they  enter  the  rivers  in  the  spring  is  to 
feed!  This  statement  applies  not  only  to  salmoa 
but  to  sea  trout,  shad,  herring,  striped  bass,  and  all 
kinds  of  anadromous  fishes  as  well.  All  these  sev- 
eral kinds  of  fish  have  been  taken  on  the  fly  at  the 
season  named,  and  the  food  which  they  are  in  pur- 
suit of  when  they  "  strike  in  "  has  been  indubitably 
ascertained  by  investigation.  That  of  the  salmon 
consists,  as  has  been  stated,  in  great  part  of  herring 
sile  and  fry  of  all  kinds,  including  young  Salmo- 
nidsd  and  other  salt  and  fresh-water  varieties, 
shrimps,  prawns,  crustaceans,  cephalopods,  floating 
invertebrata  and  whatever  else  they  can  procure  at 
the  varying  seasons  of  the  year.  In  fact,  salmon  are 
almost  omniverous,  especially  in  the  winter  months. 
Quite  recently,  in  indicating  killing  baits  for  salmon 
in  some  northern  rivers  of  Great  Britain,  Mr.  G.  M. 
Mackay,  a  writer  in  the  London  Fishing  Gazette,  has 
furnished,  perhaps  unwittingly,  the  key  to  the  long- 


THE    SALMON    FISHER. 


37 


mooted  question  why  salmon  run  up  the  rivers  in 
the  spring,  and  whether  they  eat  while  there.  With 
this  key  before  us  the  way  to  a  satisfactory  solution 
becomes  easy. 

The  subjoined  article,  which  is  apparently  written 
by  Mr.  Mackay  from  the  standpoint  of  a  professional 
angler  rather  than  that  of  a  scientist  pure  and  sim- 
ple, specifies  no  less  than  seven  different  baits  which 
the  salmon  take  eagerly  at  times  while  in  the  rivers, 
to  wit:  natural  minnows,  small  "burn"  or  brook 
trout,  pra  ns,  worms,  phantoms,  Devons  and  spoons. 
The  Devons  and  phantoms  are  artificial  imitations  of 
the  natural  minnow.  This  list  of  seven  baits,  to 
which,  of  course,  the  never  failing  artificial  fly  must 
be  added,  shows  that  salmon  are  at  least  promiscu- 
ous feeders.  The  next  fact  to  determine  is,  how 
much  they  eat.  We  think  we  shall  be  able  to  show 
that  they  are  as  voracious  as  they  are  omniverous. 
Some  of  these  baits,  it  will  be  observed,  take  best  in 
spring,  others  in  midsummer,  and  still  others  in  au- 
tumn; some  take  best  when  the  water  is  clear,  and 
others  when  it  is  roiled  and  discolored;  some  when 
the  water  is  thin  and  low,  and  others  on  the  surge 


Hi; 


A 


•|! 


38 


THE   SALMON    FISHER. 


of  a  mighty  flood.  There  are  no  conditions  or 
stages,  it  would  seem,  when  the  salmon  will  not  ac- 
cej^t  one  or  more  of  the  above  named  baits — "at 
some  time  or  other  in  the  course  of  twenty-four 
hours."  Nothing  interferes  with  their  appetites. 
These  observations  of  Mr.  Mackay  are,  therefore,  of 
the  utmost  imj)ortance  in  determining  the  hitherto 
mysterious  biology  of  this  remarkable  and  much  in- 
vestigated fish.  All  the  books  w^hich  have  hitherto 
been  written  since  the  days  of  Walton  have  not  ap- 
proached so  near  the  line  of  correct  conclusions. 
But  we  proceed  to  quote : 

"  Fresh-run  salmon  take  the  natural  minnow  w4th 
avidity,  but  when  it  has  been  once  or  twice  over  the 
pool  in  a  settled  water,  the  game  is  not  worth  the 
candle.  The  natural  minnow  is  of  little  use  till  the 
spring  is  well  advanced  and  the  temperature  of  the 
water  well  up.  It  does  exceedingly  well  in  the  au- 
tumn months,  but  here  again  with  fresh-run  fish. 

"  As  a  substitute  for  natural  minnow,  small,  dis- 
tinctly marked  burn  trout,  from  a  clear  stream,  often 
prove  fetching,  and  the  more  so  if  they  have  a  golden 
tinge  along  the  sides  and  vent.    Minnows  of  this 


THE  SALMON  FISHER. 


89 


description — which  are  frequently  found  in  favored 
localities — are  most  deadly  with  grilse. 

"  The  Devon  is  a  popular  lure  from  season's  end 
to  season's  end  in  heavy  waters.  Much  depends  on 
its  spinning  qualities,  and  the  same  observation  with 
regard  to  the  use  of  the  various  colored  phantoms 
holds  equally  good.  A  clear  Devon  for  a  clear 
water,  and  a  yellow  or  brown  when  the  water  is  col- 
ored. A  striped  Devon,  on  the  other  hand,  has  the 
combined  advantages  of  both.  Spinning  with  the 
Devon  follows  on  exactly  the  same  lines  as  spinning 
with  the  natural  minnow.  The  Devon  is  a  good 
evening  bait,  and  salmon  will  come  at  it  when  it  is 
uselessly  late  for  offering  any  other  lure.  It  is  a 
good  grilse  lure  in  streams  and  in  a  biggish  water, 
but  its  most  deadly  records  are  made  in  the  tidal 
v/aters  in  the  heart  of  a  run  of  sea  trout.  The  prawn 
is  a  pure  enigma,  yet  it  is  a  fetching  lure  under 
fiomewhat  the  same  conditions  as  the  natural  min- 
now. But  in  addition,  when  a  potted  fish  cannot  be 
approached  with  any  other  thing,  it  will  succumb  to 
the  prawn,  and  this  even  in  a  small  clear  water. 

"The  salmon  takes  the  worm  best  when  the  water 


i 


40 


THE   SALMON  FISHEB. 


is  slightly  browned  and  on  the  rise.  In  the  neck  of 
a  stream  in  midsummer  is  the  next  deadly  opportu- 
nity, but  under  most  other  conditions  the  worm  as  a 
salmon  lure  may  be  classified  in  the  category  of  ec- 
centricities. There  is  no  saying  when  it  may  or  may 
not  be  successful,  and  fish  have  been  killed  under  all 
conditions  with  it.  Yet  it  is  not  a  favorite  lure.  Its 
uncertainty  may  have  much  to  do  with  its  unpopu- 
larity. Still,  it  has  been  asserted  that  salmon  will 
invariably  be  tempted  to  try  a  worm  at  some  time  or 
other  in  the  course  of  the  twenty-four  hours.  With 
grilse  nothing  beats  the  worm,  and  especially  if  they 
are  fresh  from  the  sea.  Not  even  the  worm  will 
tempt  grilse  when  running,  but  when  they  are  rest- 
ing in  any  bit  of  slack  water,  let  the  worm  come  roll- 
ing toward  them  and  they  will  take  it  for  a  cer- 
taimty.  When  they  congregate  in  a  deep  pool  they 
may  be  picked  out,  one  after  another,  if  they  be  at 
all  on  the  feed.  This,  however,  when  the  water  is 
slightly  browned,  in  preference  to  crystal  clearness. 
In  a  black  water  the  worm  is  refused  alike  by  sal- 
mon, grilse  and  sea  trout,  and  nothing  seems  to 
work  like  the  spoon  bait.    In  a  mighty  flood,  when 


/ 


/ 


THE   SALMON    FISHER. 


41 


every  other  lure  proves  useless,  the  phantom  and  the 
spoon  divide  the  honors  between  them,  but  when 
the  sweeping  flood  is  of  that  inky  black  color,  the 
phantom  has  to  yield  the  palm  to  the  spoon,  which 
under  such  conditions  reigns  supreme.  In  early 
autumn  the  streams  are  often  of  this  abominable 
color,  the  early  floods  being  dyed  with  the  hues  of 
decaying  vegetation,  often  attributed  to  the  swill- 
ings  of  peat  bogs.  Then,  if  a  salmon  be  brought  to 
book  at  all,  it  will  most  likely  be  with  the  spoon. 
Although  spoon  baits  may  be  successfully  used 
under  other  conditions  than  the  above,  such  as  in 
searching  streamy  water,  even  when  small  and  clear, 
they  are  par  excellence  the  lure  in  heavy  waters." 

More  than  ever  before  is  bait  fishing  becoming  the 
vogue  now  in  Scottish  salmon  rivers.  "  Not  so  very 
long  ago,"  says  one  resident  observer,  "an  angler 
detected  in  the  act  of  using  any  other  lure  than  the 
fly  would,  in  most  districts,  have  been  looked  upon 
as  a  pot-hunter  and  poacher,  and  shunned  by  true 
sportsmen  accordingly.  Now,  however,  with  the 
march  of  progress  tempora  miitanturj  and  the  minnow, 
prawn  or  worm  is  unblushingly  mounted,  and  salmon 


42 


THE   SALMON   FISHER. 


and  trout  killed  by  men  who  know  as  much  about 
fly-fishing  as  does  a  jackass." 

Bait  fishing,  it  would  seem,  was  the  primitive 
method,  just  as  it  now  is  on  the  Pacific  coast  rivers. 
How,  then,  did  our  dilettanti  anglers  and  all  the 
book-makers  get  the  idea  that  salmon  could  only  be 
taken  with  the  fly  ?  The  answer  is  sufficiently  obvi- 
ous :  It  is  because  the  few  who  angled  for  salmon 
fifty  years  ago  were  distinctively  "  gentlemen  sports- 
men" trained  to  legitimate  work.  On  this  side  of 
the  Atlantic  they  were  chiefly  British  army  officers 
who  affected  only  high  art ;  or  possibly  they  never 
heard  of  any  other  method  of  taking  salmon  than 
with  fly,  inheriting  th3  idea  from  a  goodly  line  of 
piscatorial  ancestors  who  had  generations  before 
them  been  ridiculed  into  eschewing  the  vulgar  bait 
because  it  was  "not  the  correct  thing."  At  all 
events  nobody,  up  to  date,  had  scarcely  thought  of 
testing  rising  fish  with  bait  of  any  kind.  If  the  fish 
did  not  rise  within  an  hour  after  persistent  whipping, 
they  concluded  that  they  were  not  in  the  humor  and 
adjourned  for  another  trial  later  on. 

It  has  been  mentioned  that  salmon  are  almost 


THE    SALMON    FISHEB. 


43 


omnivorous  at  some  seasons.  But  in  spring  their 
chief  article  of  diet  and  main  subsistence  are  the 
annelids  which  swarm  in  from  the  ocean  to  breed  in 
the  beach-flats.  The  breeding  season  of  these  sand- 
worms  is  in  April,  and  later,  according  to  tempera- 
ture and  latitude,  and  at  that  time  the  seashores  lit- 
erally swarm  with  them,  either  swimming  free  like 
eels  in  great  masses,  or  housed  in  burrows.  Wher- 
ever there  is  a  flat  of  mixed  mud  and  sand  they  are 
sure  to  be  found  in  great  quantities,  but  they  are 
not  common  on  beaches  of  clear  sand.  Some  kinds 
are  very  numerous  under  rocks  between  tides,  living 
in  tough,  durable  tubes  which  they  construct  for 
themselves.  Indeed,  all  the  annelids  constitute  a 
most  important  element  in  the  diet  of  fishes,  not 
only  of  nomadic  and  littoral  species,  but  of  those 
which  constantly  root  for  them  in  their  beds,  like 
the  tautog,  scup,  haddock,  etc.,  wherefore,  it  will  be 
readily  understood  that  salmon  hug  the  shore  in 
early  spring  because  they  are  after  these  sandworms, 
as  well  as  small  fry  of  all  sorts,  which  they  follow 
into  the  estuaries,  and  even  into  the  rivers.  They 
enter  the  rivers  in  spring  because  they  follow  their 


44 


THE  SALMON   FISHER. 


food  there.  In  the  Arctic  rivers  there  is  no  spring 
run  of  sahnon,  because  the  season  does  not  open  till 
the  latter  part  of  June,  on  account  of  the  ice,  and 
the  advent  and  breeding  of  all  marine  forms  is 
retarded.  The  only  run  is  in  midsummer.  There  is 
no  autumn  run,  for  the  rivers  are  frozen  tight  by 
the  end  of  September.  Low  temperature  makes 
£shes  sluggish.  It  benumbs  them,  just  as  it  does 
other  creatures.  Fishes  do  not  travel  as  fast,  or 
play  as  well  on  a  rod,  at,  say,  thirty-five  degrees  of 
temperature  as  at  fifty-five.  "While  salmon  are  not 
80  sensibly  affected  by  temperature  of  water  as  many 
other  fishes,  it  is  a  condition  which  operates  mate- 
rially against  them  in  one  way.  The  specific  gravity 
of  stream  water  being  greater  at  low  temperature 
than  at  high,  salmon  have  a  greater  force  to  contend 
with  then  in  ascending  the  rivers,  and  consequently 
sustained  travel  becomes  laborious,  and  is  impeded. 
Cold  weather  makes  a  season  late.  River  fish  can- 
not move  into  warmer  quarters  at  will  like  salt  water 
fish,  which  make  for  the  Gulf  Stream  on  the  advent 
of  hard  frost,  or  when  the  ocean  becomes  chilled  by 
icebergs  drifting,  nor  can  they  warm  their  cold- 


THE  SALMON   FISHEB. 


4B 


blooded  bodies  by  vigorous  gymnastic  exercise. 
They  can  only  wait  patiently  for  warmer  weather. 
Salmon,  however,  which  have  not  passed  above  the 
estuaries,  often  drop  back  into  the  ocean  and  remain 
there  until  a  more  propitious  time  for  another 
attempted  ascent,  thereby  constituting  a  second  or 
third  run  as  the  case  may  be. 

Varying  conditions  govern  all  the  rivers  of  Europe 
and  America  as  v/ell,  so  that  it  is  inexpedient  to  at- 
tempt to  predicate  the  movements  and  habits  of  the 
denizens  of  one  river  by  those  of  another.  In  the  Bay 
Chaleur,  Canada,  netters  keep  their  snares  out  only 
for  a  short  time  in  spring,  because  the  run  is  soon 
over.  The  salmon  drop  back  to  the  sea.  In  mid- 
summer, in  most  Canadian  streams,  there  is  a 
second  run,  because  the  rivers  are  kept  full  from 
the  reservoirs  of  still  unmelted  snow  at  their  sources. 
The  water  is  cold,  and  marine  forms  are  only  just 
beginning  to  enter  those  channels.  In  many  rivers 
the  water  gets  low  and  too  warm  for  the  salmon  to 
remain,  and  they  stay  empty  all  summer  unless  a 
"spate"  comes.  If  all  incomers  remained  they 
would  be  too  crowded  to  move,  as  in  some  rivers  on 


46 


THE  SALMON   FISHER. 


the  Pacific.  Fish  are  continuously  in  large  rivers 
the  whole  year  round — that  is,  squads  or  individuals 
are  found — ^but  the  great  body  of  fish  move  together. 
This  principal  movement,  or  migration,  takes  place 
in  the  early  autumn  in  most  rivers,  after  the  fall 
rains  swell  their  volume,  for  two  reasons  :  first, 
because  it  is  near  their  true  spawning  season,  and 
second,  because  it  is  easier  for  them  to  surmount 
falls,  rapids  and  other  obstacles  when  the  river  is  full. 
On  rivers  of  extreme  length,  like  the  Columbia, 
Yukon,  Kuskokvim,  and  others  of  the  Pacific  coast, 
the  spring  run  of  salmon  does  not  go  back  to  the 
sea,  for  obvious  reasons.  If  the  fish  have  500  miles 
or  more  to  ascend,  they  cannot  afford  to  lose  time 
by  running  in  and  out,  for  swift  as  their  speed  is  in 
long  reaches  of  clear  water,  they  cannot  overcome 
difficult  obstructions  without  painful  and  repeated 
efforts,  often  lacerating  themselves  most  shockingly. 
High  falls  especially  retard  their  progress.  To  sur- 
mount these  they  are  obliged  to  climb  their  rugged 
abutments,  which  are  full  of  pockets  and  crevices 
and  projections,  over  which  the  lateral  overflow  is 
constantly  spilling  in  greater  or  less  quantity  ;  and 


THE  SALMON   FISHER. 


47 


m 


it  is  not  altogether  an  impossible  feat  for  a  salmon 
to  mount  a  very  high  fall  by  these  gradual  slei)s, 
stopping  betimes  to  rest  his  muHcles  and  moisten 
his  gills  in  the  little  basins  which  present  them- 
selves conveniently  at  hand.  But  they  will  not 
essay  this  side  passage  until  they  have  persistently 
attempted  to  leap  the  breast  of  the  fall  ;  hence, 
some  careless  observers  have  maintained  against  all 
reason,  common  sense,  and  mathematical  demonstra- 
tion, that  salmon  leap  falls  sixteen  feet  high  and 
upwards !  However,  up  the  fish  must  go,  impelled 
irresistibly  by  the  instinct  of  procreation,  which 
demands  that  they  shall  reach  the  upper  waters. 
The  time  of  spawning  often  varies  in  the  same  river, 
and  is  determined  by  the  period  at  which  impregna- 
tion has  taken  place.  A  portion  of  the  run,  there- 
fore, being  riper  than  the  rest,  simwn  sooner,  and 
having  fulfilled  their  mission,  return  at  once  to  the 
sea,  while  their  less  fortunate  belated  kindred  must 
continue  their  pilgrimage,  perchance  to  headwaters  ; 
for  so  long  as  their  great  work  remains  unaccom- 
plished, they  will  pass  on  until  stopped  by  unsur- 
mountable  obstacles.    Ripe  salmon  are  obliged  to 


48 


THE  SALMON   FISHER. 


halt  and  deposit  their  spawn  in  the  gravel  wherever 
the  crisis  overtakes  them.  Where  the  rivers  are 
Hhort,  like  those  of  the  east  Atlantic  coast,  the  sal- 
mon return  to  the  sea  merely  emaciated  and  greatly 
reduced  in  weight,  but  in  the  Columbia,  and  like 
rivers,  which  extend  for  hundreds  of  miles,  they  die 
by  millions,  worn  out  and  exhausted  by  their  incred- 
ible journey.  Such  as  reach  the  upper  spawning 
beds  arrive  in  sorry  plight,  mutilated,  crushed  and 
almost  shapeless.  Fortunate  are  those  which  have 
vitality  enough  left  to  be  able  to  return  to  the  sea. 
Indeed,  so  great  is  the  mortality,  that  it  has  been 
generally  believed  that  they  never  return  at  all. 

Observers  declare  that  they  seldom  find  any  traces 
of  food  in  the  stomachs  of  ascending  fish  ;  and 
hence,  probably,  has  arisen  the  fable  that  they  do 
not  eat.  But  such  a  supposition  is  contrary  to  all 
the  demands  of  nature.  As  regards  spring  salmon, 
it  would  be  impossible  for  them  to  sustain  life  for 
the  five  months  intervening  until  autumn,  unless 
they  fed  ;  while  in  respect  to  the  late  autumn  run, 
they  but  follow  the  instincts  of  all  pregnant  crea- 
tures on  the  eve  of  parturition.     The  latter  eat  con- 


THE  SALMON   riSHER. 


49 


tinually,  but  capriciously — here  a  little  and  there  a 
little — pettish,  fastidious,  ravenous  and  indisposed 
by  turns,  while  the  soft  and  pulpy  character  of  their 
food  enables  them  to  digest  it  almost  as  soon  as 
swallowed.  It  would  be  inexplicable,  indeed,  if  sal- 
mon alone  of  all  creatures,  were  not  required  by 
nature  to  fortify  and  strengthen  themselves  for  the 
supremest  act  of  physical  existence.  Physiology 
will  easily  explain  why  the  distended  ovaries,  press- 
ing upon  the  stomach  and  intestines,  will  not  permit 
the  introduction  of  food  excej^t  in  very  limited  quan- 
tities, and  the  most  deli  ate  kinds  at  that.  In  this 
crisis  the  sandworm  becomes  a  most  important  factor 
in  the  economv  of  the  seashore  and  salmon  river. 
His  pulpy  body  dissolves  in  the  stomach  of  the  sal- 
mon like  starch  or  glucose.  Dr.  P.  Pancritius,  of 
Germany,  has  described  the  chemistry  of  digestion 
in  fishes  in  the  most  intelligent  way,  in  Bulletin  No. 
10  of  the  U.  S.  Fish  Commission. 

Referring  again  to  the  important  part  which  anne- 
lids or  sandworms  bear  in  ichthyc  economy,  it  may 
be  stat  jd  that  salmon  are  more  apt  to  feed  at  nigh^ 
than  in  the  daytime,  because  the  annelids  are  in  th 


, 


50 


THE   SALMON   FISHER. 


Labit  of  leaving  their  burrows  at  that  time,  when 
they  come  to  the  surface  in  vast  numbers,  swimming 
about  like  eels,  and  becoming  an  easy  prey  to  many 
kinds  of  fishes.  Boring  annelids  have  also  the  habit- 
when  making  their  perforations  in  the  sand,  of  rota- 
ting rapidly  in  a  spiral  coil,  whereby  they  penetrate 
with  great  rapidity,  often  disappearing  almost  in- 
btantly  ;  wher  >by  it  is  possible  to  account  for  the 
attractions  to  the  salmon  of  revolving  spoons  and 
spinning  tackle,  the  color  of  the  worms  being  red, 
purple,  yellow  and  crimson  as  well. 

Furthermore  :  some  of  these  annelids  are  carniv- 
erous  and  very  rapacious,  according  to  Prof.  Verrill, 
from  whom  we  learn  much  of  their  habits.  Nereis 
virens  and  Rhyncoholus  americanus,  both  common  ta 
the  north  Atlantic,  have  large  retractile  probosces, 
armed  with  strong,  fang-like  jaws  at  the  ends,  and 
many  smaller  teeth  at  the  sides,  whereby  they  seize 
and  devour  their  prey.  Nereis  grows  to  the  length 
of  eighteen  inches.  They  live  largely  upon  other 
worms,  and  thus  we  are  able  to  account  for  the  pres- 
ence of  tape  worms,  thread  worms,  and  round  wormft 
in  sea  trout  and  salmon.    Naturalists  aver  that  the 


THE  SALMON  FISHES. 


61 


tape  worm  goes  through  a  series  of  metamorphoses, 
«.nd  when  found  in  any  animal  must  have  previously 
Teached  a  certain  development  in  some  other  animal, 
•of  which  it  has  been  the  prey.  Cysts  of  the  tape 
Tvorm  may  have  been  formed  in  the  sandworm,  and 
«o  passed  into  the  salmon  and  there  developed. 
IJVTiether  the  theory  be  scientifically  correct,  or  not, 
it  sufficiently  accounts  for  a  phenomenon  which  has 
hitherto  baffled  investigation.  The  salmon  either 
takes  his  tape  worm  au  naturel,  or  at  second  hand. 

Note  (referring  to  Winninlsh  on  page  29).— Numbers  of  heavy  Salmo 
Winninish  have  been  caught  in  the  Ashuapmouchouan,  Metabachouan, 
Peribonka,  and  other  tributaries  of  Lake  St.  John,  in  September.  These 
-upper  rivers  are  their  spawning  grounds,  and  not  the  riffs  of  the  Orande 
Discharge. 


BOUT  the  30th  of  May  in  the  river  Restigouche 
and  kindred  Bay  Chaleur  streams,  and  perhaps 
three  weeks  later  for  the  Lower  St.  Lawrence, 
is  the  time  when  the  wide-awake  professional  angler 
will  get  on  to  a'  stream.  For  thirty  years  past  it  was 
necessary  for  residents  of  the  United  States  to  go  to 
Canada  for  their  salmon  fishing  ;  and  indeed  they 
go  there  now  more  than  ever  ;  but  thanks  to  the 
persistent  efforts  of  the  Fish  Commission,  the  streams 
of  Maine  are  once  more  available.  Both  branches  of 
the  Penobscot,  the  Wassatoonoch,  the  Mattewam- 
keag,  and  the  tributaries  of  the  Sebago  and  "Weld's 
Pond,  are  especially  mentioned  as  being  quite  re- 
stored and  furnishing   good   sport   to   the   angler, 


54 


THE   SALMON   FISHER. 


while  many  other  lakes  in  the  Pine  Tree  State  afford 
good  fishing  for  the  land-locked  variety.  Twenty 
years  ago  I  would  have  thought  an  18-feet  rod  too 
long  for  a  man  of  ordinary  strength  to  handle,  but 
now  that  our  American  makers  fashion  rods  so  light, 
I  am  inclined  to  return *to  the  old  English  standard 
of  length.  The  advantage  of  length  of  rod  in  deliv- 
ering a  heavy  line  as  well  as  in  lifting  it  over  mid- 
channel  obstructions,  is  manifest.  The  fact  is,  that 
any  rod  of  whatever  length  which  is  too  cumbrous 
to  be  wielded  with  the  two  hands  without  the 
adjuncts  of  waist  belt  and  thimble,  should  be  dis- 
carded. Of  course  the  general  principles  of  casting 
with  the  two-handed  rod  are  the  same  as  with  a  light 
single-handed  trout  rod,  but  an  expert  trout  angler 
will  have  to  practice  long  before  he  can  cast  a  sal- 
mon line  skillfully.  The  upward  and  outward  lift 
of  the  line,  the  checking  of  the  rod  movement  at  the 
correct  angle  behind  the  shoulder  so  as  to  give  time 
and  scope  for  play  of  back  line,  and  the  delivery  of 
the  straight  forward  downward  cast,  are  very  much 
the  same  ;  but  the  motion  in  salmon  casting  is  more 
deliberate  because  the  implements  are  heavier  and 


THE   SALMON   FISHEB. 


66 


the  line  longer.  Besides,  the  trout  rod  is  manipu- 
lated with  the  forearm  only,  whereas  the  salmon  rod 
engages  the  wrist,  arms,  legs,  and  whole  body.  Like 
the  rod  itself,  the  body  must  be  supple,  elastic,  and 
sympathetic  with  it.  A  rigid  statuesque  pose  or 
action  is  fatal  to  excellence  in  delivery.  As  to  ma- 
terial of  rod,  I  make  no  choice  between  the  best 
wooden  rods  of  Wm.  Mitchell  and  the  split  bamboo 
of  Leonard,  except  that  the  life  of  the  wooden  rod 
is  the  longest.  There  are  few  wooden  rods  indeed 
which  are  equal  to  the  best  split  bamboo,  and  for 
those  greenheart  or  ash  are  preferred.  Many  old 
salmon  anglers  have  a  second  rod  of  less  weight 
and  length,  which  is  better  adapted  for  switching 
"when  casting-room  is  restricted,  and  for  use  in  calm 
days  and  quiet  waters.  Whenever  one  can  use  this 
lighter  rod  the  climax  of  pleasure  is  reached.  The 
heavier  rod  is  for  heroic  work  in  heavy  waters,  with 
stiff  wind  blowing,  perhaps,  when  the  fishing  may 
be  called  taxing. 

For  fittings  I  would  have  standing  guides  and  a 
pivoted  eyelet  for  the  tip.  For  reel  I  use  the  com- 
bination rubber  and  nickel  with  flange  enclosing 


56 


THE   SALMON  FISHEB. 


the  crank.  This  I  recommend  for  its  lightness, 
though  a  reel  should  always  be  of  a  proper  ascer- 
tained weight  to  balance  the  rod.  "When  the  new 
automatic  salmon  reel  comes  upon  the  market,  the 
probabilities  are  that  it  will  be  adopted  by  veteran 
anglers,  as  the  utility  of  the  automatic  trout  and  bas» 
reels  in  present  use  has  been  demonstrated  beyond 
a  doubt.     Mr.  John  Mowat  recommends  it. 

As  to  the  line,  100  yards  of  oiled  silk  or  braided 
linen  line  are  enough,  unless  your  fish  gets  into  a 
long  rapid,  and  then  you  want  a  thousand  if  you 
cannot  follow.  A  gaff  and  gaffer  are  indispensable. 
Some  experienced  anglers  have  justly  declared  that 
a  first-class  salmon  line  is  one  of  the  most  difficult 
articles  of  an  outfit  to  procure  ;  but  no  one  save  an 
experienced  angler  can  appreciate  its  value.  A  thor- 
oughly good  line  should  be  perfectly  pliable  and 
yet  have  the  substance  in  it  to  make  it  feel  quite 
solid.  A  line  that  is  light  for  its  bulk  is  of  little  use 
in  casting  against  the  wind,  and  one  that  is  hard 
and  stiff  is  too  long  in  running  out  straight  in  the 
water.  A  line  should  be  heavy  and  not  thick.  It 
should  be  thoroughly  waterproofed,  so  as  not  to  rot. 


THE   SALMON   FISHER.  57 

and  it  should  taper  for  seven  to  eight  yards  at  the 
end.  A  bulky  line  shows  too  much  in  the  water.  It 
is  a  good  rule  to  fish  with  as  thin  a  line  as  one  can 
possibly  make  good  casting  with. 

There  is  a  good  deal  of  nonsense  afloat  about  the 
selection  of  flies — the  least  experienced  anglers^^ 
being  apt  to  talk  most  empirically  of  patterns,  sizes^ 
and  numbers  of  hooks  ;  and  a  sort  of  international 
dispute  is  rife  as  to  the  size  of  flies  used  by  English 
and  American  anglers  respectively — it  being  charged 
that  Americans  use  giant  flies  habitually,  while  his 
more  intelligent  British  cousin  fishes  "  fine  and  far 
off,  you  know."  The  truth  is,  that  national  proclivi- 
ties disappear  when  skilled  anglers  come  to  the 
scratch,  and  one  is  just  as  apt  as  the  other  to  select 
those  flies  which  are  most  suitable  to  the  water  and 
the  season,  both  as  regards  size  and  pattern.  An 
old  Scotch  angler  in  the  London  Fishing  Gazette 
gives  this  good  advice.     He  says  : 

"  Many  anglers  get  so  conservative  in  their  ideas, 
that  they  think  if  the  fish  do  not  take  a  Jock  Scott 
or  some  ther  fancy  one  they  have,  all  the  same  size> 
they  wiL  take  nothing.     I  consider  this  a  great  mis- 


£8 


THE  SALMON   FISHES. 


take.  Many  days  one  fly  will  kill  when  another  will 
not.  If  fish  are  not  rising  to  one  fly,  too  much  time 
should  not  be  lost  in  persevering  with  it,  but  another 
should  be  tried.  If  another  angler  on  the  same 
ivater  is  getting  good  sport  and  you  are  not,  it  is 
Ijetter  to  find  out  what  fly  he  is  killing  with.  Where 
the  water  runs  heavy  and  deep,  and  where  it  is 
Tough  and  rapid,  a  larger  fly  should  be  used  than 
wrhere  it  runs  shallow  and  quiet.  In  the  evening, 
^hen  the  light  goes  off  the  water,  a  fly  a  size  or  two 
larger  and  of  brighter  colors  can  be  used  with  effect. 
A  silver  body  does  well.  A  "Williamson  with  long 
jungle-cock  in  the  wing  shows  up  wonderfully  well. 
In  a  rising  water  it  is  always  advisable  to  use  a 
larger  fly." 

Large  flies  are  also  required  in  early  spring  fish- 
ing. The  most  killing  for  mid-season  are  Turkey- 
^ing,  Jock  Scott,  the  Silver  Doctor,  dun  wing,  and 
the  black  doe.  Yellow  mohair  and  golden  pheasant 
are  the  best  for  early  rivers,  notably  those  of  Nova 
Scotia.  In  latter  years  I  have  learned  to  use  double 
hooks.  They  swim  the  water  better,  and  are  more 
likely  to  fasten  to  a  fish.    On  the  whole,  I  do  not 


THE   SALMON    FISHER. 


5» 


find  salmon  to  be  as  capricious  as  trout,  bass,  and 
some  other  kinds  of  fish.  The  truth  is,  if  salmon  are 
in  a  taking  mood,  they  are  not  particular  as  to  the 
kind  of  fiy  offered.  Favorite  flies  are  more  apt  to  be 
the  favorites  of  the  anglers  themselves  than  of  the 
fish  they  are  in  quest  of.  The  old  angler  just 
referred  to  observes  farther  (I  always  prefer  to 
quote  opinions  of  others  when  they  corroborate  my 
own): 

"  As  a  rule,  the  moment  the  river  begins  to  come 
out,  fish  rise  very  freely  and  continue  for  a  quarter 
of  an  hour  to  an  hour,  and  then  go  off  altogether. 
Seldom  have  I  seen  them  rise  for  a  whole  hour.  In 
some  rivers  fish  will  rise  until  the  water  is  so  dirtjr 
that  they  cannot  see  the  fly.  The  moment  the  fish 
begin  to  stop  running  and  take  up  their  resting 
places,  and  the  river  is  clear  enough  for  them  to  see 
the  fly,  I  consider  the  best  time  to  fish.  Many  of 
the  fish  have  never  seen  a  fly,  so  that  they  rise  much 
more  readily  the  first  time  they  have  been  fished 
over.  When  the  river  is  colored,  the  shallowest 
part  where  fish  lie  should  be  fished,  the  fish  of  course 
having  a  better  chance  to  see  the  fly  than  where  it  ia 


€0 


THE   SALMON   FISHER. 


deep.  Many  young  anglers  rise  a  great  many  fish 
and  fail  to  hook  them.  Even  some  long  experienced 
anglers  get  into  this  hal^t  and  never  get  out  of  it* 
The  reason  of  this  is,  they  cast  too  straight  across 
the  stream  and  keep  the  point  of  the  rod  too  high. 
The  fly  travels  round  too  fast,  and  the  fish  make  a 
dash  at  it  and  fail  to  catch  it.  The  fly  should  go 
straight  out,  the  cast  should  be  made  well  down  the 
river,  and  the  point  of  the  rod  kejit  nearly  touching 
the  w^ater,  and  the  fly  allowed  to  sink  well  down. 
The  rod  should  be  worked  slowly  when  the  fly  has 
nearly  come  over  the  cast." 

And  this  reminds  me  that  ever  since  land-locked 
salmon  came  into  the  angler's  category  of  game  fish, 
a  great  deal  of  dissatisfaction  has  been  expressed  in 
all  quarters,  because  they  are  so  seldom  tempted  to 
rise  to  a  fly.  Selections  from  the  best  favorites  have 
proved  almost  failures,  and,  indeed,  excepting  in  May, 
when  smelts  are  running,  land-locked  salmon  have 
been  wiped  off  the  spring  list  of  acceptable  game 
fishes.  Now,  without  intending  to  air  any  consum- 
mate knowledge  of  the  habits  and  caprices  of  this 
most  reputable  denizen  of  some  of  our  best  inland 


THE   SALMON    FISHER. 


61 


•waters,  I  would  suggest  that  the  customary  mode  of 
handling  the  rod  is  incorrect.  "We  dare  say  that 
anglers  who  have  tried  for  land-locked  salmon  havo 
habitually  cast  too  long  a  line,  seeming  to  think  thiit 
the  homely  adage  of  the  longest  jjole  knocking  the 
most  persimmons  applies  to  the  longest  line  securing 
the  most  fish.  Anglers  who  have  been  in  the  habit 
of  fishing  rapid  streams  and  broken  water  would 
especially  be  liable  to  forget  that  dead  water  is  alto- 
gether a  different  field  for  their  practice,  and  so 
manipulate  their  rods  in  precisely  the  same  manner 
as  before  ;  w^hereas  just  the  oj^posite  tactics  are 
required.  On  the  rivers  the  angler  should  not  use 
too  short  a  line.  As  the  old  man  says  :  the  fly  should 
go  straight  out,  and  the  2:)oint  of  the  rod  be  kept 
nearly  touching  the  water,  the  fly  being  allowed  to 
sink  well  down— the  current  helj^ing  it  to  travel  and 
circuit  about;  but  on  dead  water  a  short  line  is  requi- 
site ;  the  rod  should  l^e  kept  almost  peri)endicular, 
so  that  the  fly  can  trail  on  the  very  top  surface  ;  and 
the  cast  should  be  made  straight  out  in  front  of  the 
face,  as  if  trying  to  throw  between  two  gate-posts. 
Kot  more  than  six  feet   of  the  gut-length  shoidd 


62 


THE   SALMON   FISHER. 


touch  the  water  at  any  time.  Why  ?  Because  the 
water  is  so  still,  even  when  rippled  by  a  flaw  of  wind, 
that  the  line  laying  its  length  along  the  water  looks 
like  a  cable.  The  fish  are  so  busy  investigating  the 
phenomenon  that  they  don't  mind  the  fly.  Perhaps 
they  don't  see  it  at  all.  To  attract  his  attention  the 
point  of  the  rod  should  be  pumped  up  and  down. 
This  will  move  the  fly  a  foot  or  more  at  each  motion. 
Sometimes  it  is  well  to  draw  the  line  through  the 
rings  with  the  left  hand  while  working  the  point  of 
the  rod,  which  answers  the  like  purpose.  The  whole 
process  is  exceedingly  delicate.  Experienced  anglers 
will  appreciate  the  difficulty  of  fastening  to  a  rise 
with  an  almost  perjpendicular  rod,  while  the  liability 
of  breaking  the  tip  in  case  of  a  strike  is  very  great. 
The  only  way  is  not  to  strike  when  a  salmon  rises, 
but  to  let  him  pull  the  point  of  the  rod  down  three 
or  four  feet,  and  then  fix  the  hook  in  his  jaw  by  a 
gentle  lifting  of  the  rod  so  as  to  bring  the  line  taut. 
There  is  no  method  of  fishing  prettier  than  this 
when  one  gets  used  to  it.  It  beats  skittering  with  '^ 
spoon  all  hollow. 
It  is  obvious  that  this  mode  applies  to  tidal  watei  si 


THE   SALMON    FISHER. 


63 


and  still  i:>ools  in  rivers  as  well.  It  is  much  in  vogue 
in  Scottish  lochs  (lakes),  and  is  just  as  suitable  in 
our  own.  I  do  not  see  why  land-locked  salmon 
should  not  be  as  available  to  anglers  in  our  Maine 
waters  as  they  are  in  the  waters  of  Scotland.  In 
Sebago,  Lake,  at  least,  there  seems  to  be  good  fish- 
ing from  early  April,  or  as  soon  as  the  ice  goes  out 
until  July  1,  although  the  fish  are  suspicious  and  the 
angler  is  not  always  sure  of  his  game.  Sometimes 
half  a  dozen  fine  salmon  will  reward  his  efforts,  and 
again  he  may  fish  for  days  without  appreciable  re- 
sults. Land-locked  salmon  fishing  has  been  good  in 
April  the  past  two  years.  A  few  salmon  get  in  ahead 
of  the  smelts  and  afford  good  sport.  After  the  smelts 
leave  has  usually  been  considered  the  best  time  to 
fish.     Chances  vary  with  the  season. 

Medium  sized  flics  are  the  best,  of  course,  and 
should  never  exceed  one  inch  in  length.  Dingeo 
Scribner's  Sons,  of  St.  John,  New  Brunswick,  make 
the  best  land-locked  salmon  flies  known,  and  we 
have  patterns  of  yellow  bodies  with  turkey  wings, 
and  claret  body  with  mallard  wungs,  which  we  have 
always  used  with  success  wherever  tried.  We  notice 


64 


THE  SALMON   FISHEE. 


a  Scottish  pattern  described  as  follows  in  the  Fish-- 
ing  Gazette  J  which  is  said  to  be  very  killing.  It  is 
called  the  black  and  yellow  wasp  :  Tag,  silver  tinsel 
and  yellow  floss  ;  tail,  crest  woodduck  and  scarlet 
ibis  ;  first  half  of  body  golden  yellow  pig's  wool, 
over  this  oval  gold  tinsel  pretty  closely  put  on  ;  the 
upper  half  black  pig's  wool ;  over  this  flat  silver  tin- 
sel, a  black  hackle  ;  over  the  black,  shoulder  hackle 
guinea  fowl  wmg  black  mottled  turkey.  We  hsLve 
heard  of  trolling  with  phantoms  astern  of  a  boat  as 
a  successful  method  for  fishing  for  land-locked  sal- 
mon in  Scotland  when  flies  failed.  As  a  dernier 
rcBort  in  the  last  extremity,  baiting  a  buoy  with 
chopped  fish  will  win.  Set  the  buoy  in  thirty  or 
forty  feet  of  water,  and  on  the  third  day  after,  try 
your  luck.  Bait  the  hook  with  the  same  kind  of  fish 
that  you  chummed  with,  or  with  live  minnows,  which 
are  equally  taking,  and  use  sinker  just  heavy  enough 
to  carry  the  bait  to  the  bottom.  When  a  fish  is  felt 
let  him  have  a  pull  at  the  hook,  and  then  raise  the 
rod  gently  and  firmly  as  if  you  were  trying  to  lift  a 
dead  weight.  With  a  light  fly-rod  the  subsequent 
proceedings  are  interesting. 


THE   SALMON   FISHER. 


65 


It 
[e 
a 
It 


Let  it  ever  be  borne  in  mind  by  the  old  trout  fish- 
erman who  aspires  to  catch  salmon,  that  the  latter 
always  come  up  from  the  bottom.  You  can  often 
see  them  lying  on  the  gravel,  quite  motionless,  head 
up  stream,  and  passive  as  a  log  in  mid-channtl. 
Uut  they  are  quite  on  the  alert.  A  sudden  move- 
ment of  the  angler  will  send  them  up  stream  with  a 
streak  of  light  following  their  wake  like  the  flash  of 
a  silvery  arrow.  So  with  the  touch  of  the  fly  on  the 
surface.  The  salmon  detects  it  "  as  quick  as  a  wink," 
^nd  he  rises  up  to  it  majestically  ;  not  with  the  friv- 
olous dash  of  the  trout,  which  is  constantly  skitter- 
ing restlessly  hither  and  yon  about  the  pool,  but  with 
the  mien  of  a  courtier.  He  seizes  the  fly  with  a 
gulp — not  daintily  ;  and  then  settles  down  again, 
l)ack  to  his  lair,  head  foremost.  By  this  process  he 
can  hardly  help  hooking  himself.  If  he  misses  the 
hook  the  chances  are  much  against  his  looking  at  it 
again.  Hence,  it  is  sufficiently  plain  that  the  angler 
wl.o  "  strikes  at  the  rise  "  will  only  jerk  his  fly  away 
from  the  fish,  whose  movements  are  deliberate,  and 
who  displays  no  tactics  at  all,  and  no  genius  what- 
ever, and  no  subtle  strategy,  until  he  feels  himself 
Looked.     Then  his  genius  develops. 


1 


ii 


in: 


illi! 


i         ! 


66 


THE   SALMON   FISHER. 


One  word  more  about  the  outfit : 

The  salmon  fisher  needs  a  pair  of  wading  trousers, 
or  stockings,  which  come  to  the  arm-pits,  and  a  pair 
of  low  rawhide  shoes  with  hobnails  to  prevent  slip- 
ping, and  small  round  holes  punched  in  the  sidea 
near  the  soles,  through  which  the  water  can  play. 
Goodyear  &  Co.,  of  New  York,  sell  excellent  goods, 
though  perhaps  hardly  equal  to  the  English  mack- 
intosh. I  regard  mosquito  bars  for  the  head  and 
gloves  for  the  hands  as  superfluous.  The  latter, 
with  finger  tips  cut  off,  may  be  tolerated  ;  but  the 
headgear  never.  A  broad-brimmed  felt  hat  is  the 
best  article  always. 


ir 
)- 

)» 

Y- 

^>. 
I- 

A 

r, 

le 


fiHE  art  of  angliilg  for  salmon  is  a  true  specialty. 
As  acquired  and  practiced  in  this  country  it  is 
of  such  comparatively  recent  date  that  we  can- 
not reasonably,  perhaps,  look  for  superlative  profi- 
ciency among  its  devotees.  Nor  can  it  be  wondered 
&t  that  the  number  of  experts  is  so  small  as  to  com- 
prise scarcely  more  than  a  single  score,  since  the 
salmon  rivers  of  the  United  States  were  essentially 
"barren  for  forty  years,  while  those  of  Canada  were, 
most  of  them,  bo  far  off  and  difficult  of  access  as  to 
1)6  practically  beyond  reach.  Indeed,  the  few  ex- 
perienced anglers  of  the  early  part  of  the  century 
actually  went  abroad  to  the  rivers  of  Scotland  for 


68 


THE  SALMON   FISHER. 


i    I 


their  salmon  fishing,  as  our  sons  and  daughters  no"vr 
go  to  France  and  Germany  for  their  high  art  accom- 
plishments,  it  being  then  supposed  that  the  Cana- 
dian salmon  would  not  rise  to  a  fly  ;  an  error  equally 
prevalent  in  late  years  regarding  the  salmon  of  the 
Pacific  coast,  as  everybody  is  now  aware  of. 

Going  back  no  farther  than  twenty-five  years,  it  is 
easy  to  remember  that  mine  was  almost  the  only 
salmon  rod  upon  the  noble  Restigouche  throughout 
its  majestic  length  of  sixty  miles  of  superlative  sal- 
mon-fishing ground — a  very  different  state  of  things 
from  to-day,  when  its  broad  swims  below  the  Meta- 
pedia  confluence  are  freckled  with  the  canoes  of  ama- 
teurs receiving  their  expensive  lessons  and  vexing" 
the  waters  with  ambidextrous  flailings  which  would, 
command  big  money  on  an  old-time  threshing-floor* 
Tor  two  successive  years  I  had  it  entirely  to  myself,, 
ranging  chiefly  from  the  Upsalquitch  to  old  man 
Merrill's,  and  up  to  Chane's,  at  the  mouth  of  Tom- 
Kedgewick.  All  was  solitude  between.  Seldom  did 
I  fail  to  raise  a  salmon  at  the  confluence  of  the  Pat- 
apejaw  (Patapedia).  Opposite  ' '"errills  was  an  ex- 
pansive pool,  to  the  edge  of  which  the  smooth  gran- 


■ 


THE  SALMON  FISHEB. 


69 


ite  ledge  sloped  gently,  and  at  Chane*s  there  was  an 
inky  depth  in  a  rocky  cliff — said  to  be  fathomless  to 
untold  lengths  of  cedar-root  line,  and  tenanted,  the 
Indians  said,  by  a  big  salmon,  *'  more  long  as  one 
canoe."  Once,  subsequently,  I  went  in  company 
with  Captain  Barnard,  of  H.  M.  S.  "  Barracouta,"  a 
practice  ship  then  off  the  coast,  whose  guns  had 
already  battered  the  romance  out  of  all  the  fantastic 
promontories  from  Escuminac  to  Tracadigash  ;  and 
one  delectable  summer  I  made  the  acquaintance  of 
"  Johnny "  Mowatt,  the  river  guardian,  whose  now 
grown-up  sons  fill  prominent  official  positions  on  the 
Canadian  Fisheries  Commission  in  British  Columbia. 
Occasionally,  as  the  years  passed,  a  stray  rod 
would  find  its  way  to  the  river  from  some  distant 
region,  and  Aleck  Shevran,  the  pedagogue,  got  into 
the  habit  of  coming  down  every  season  from  Mon- 
treal, but  there  were  no  accommodations  for  kid 
glove  tourists  along  those  tangled  banks  above  Dan 
Eraser's  quiet  hostelry,  where  he  and  "  Black  Aleck," 
of  blessed  memory,  did  the  gustatory  honors.  The 
river  for  the  most  pr.rt  ran  through  a  wilderness, 
crossed  only  by  tlie  moose  path  or  the  Indian  trail. 


70 


THE   SALMON   FISHER. 


The  local  anglers  of  tho  day,  of  whom  John  W.  Nich- 
olson, Ed.  Spurr,  and  Harry  Venning,  of  St.  John, 
were  chief,  often  joined  by  Fred.  Curtis,  of  Boston, 
used  to  prefer  the  Miramichi  or  the  Nipissiguit  as 
being  easier  of  access.  Molson,  of  Montreal,  Allan 
Gilmour,  of  Ottawa,  and  half  a  dozen  residents  of 
Quebec,  used  to  go  to  the  Moisic,  or  the  Godbout, 
and  two  or  three  other  favorite  tributaries  of  the  St. 
Lawrence.  Andrew  Clerk,  of  New  York,  and  his 
brother,  the  doctor,  fished  the  Grand,  and  there  was 
a  rod  or  two  on  the  Caspapediac,  both  of  them  Bay 
Chaleur  streams.  Quebec  anglers  also  visited  the 
Jacques  Cartier,  a  river  which  has  since  passed  into 
dissuetude,  but  is  likely  to  become  rehabilitated  under 
judicious  handling.  These  inimitable  wielders  of  the 
two-handed  wand  were  a  rare  lot ;  but  the  commer- 
cial world  regarded  them  all  as  cranks  whose  com- 
ing and  going  with  their  proclivities  and  pursuits* 
were  as  iuexi^licable  and  mysterious  as  a  shaman's. 
M^  memory  reverts  to  that  halcyon  period  with  a 
bound  as  elastic  as  a  fawn's.  It  was  before  the  day 
of  hatching  houses  and  leased  streams.  Then  the 
interior  waters  were  virgin.     The  forests  were  un- 


THE   SALMON   FISHER. 


71 


scored  by  the  swamper's  axe,  and  no  logging  roads 
threaded  the  sequestered  penetralia.  To  the  birch 
canoe  alone  was  there  an  opeji  sesame.  Now  the  wil- 
derness is  crossed  in  every  part  by  railroads,  and 
one  can  obtain  guides  at  stated  points,  and  those 
articles  of  the  outfit  which  once  had  to  be  packed 
the  entire  distance,  making  these  forest  trips  vastly 
more  convenient,  but  to  me  less  charming  than  w^hen 
comparative  solitude  reigned  tliroughout.  Steam 
takes  the  romance  out  of  the  woods.  I  had  rather 
get  sap  in  my  eye,  lying  face  up  under  the  pines, 
than  pamper  my  indulgence  in  the  snuggest  club 
house  apartment  extant. 

It  has  been  my  very  good  privilege  to  navigate  it 
in  every  part  before  the  rivers  were  leased,  and 
while  the  salmon  fishing  was  free  to  rods  ;  and  as  I 
consider  New  Brunswick  superlatively  beyond  any 
other  district  or  known  region  of  Canada  or  the 
United  States  for  this  kind  of  diversion  (canoeing 
and  fishing,)  I  have  prepared  the  following  itinerary 
for  those  who  wish  to  rough  it,  hoping  it  may  prove 
valuable.  I  give  the  old  time  routes  retraced.  Sir 
Arthur  Gordon,  Governor  of  the  Province,  went  over 


72 


THE   SALMON    FISHER. 


a  number  of  them  in  1864,  and  wrote  quite  an  inter- 
esting pamphlet,  entitled,  "Wilderness  Journey- 
ings,"  which  is  still  on  the  shelves  of  some  libraries* 
If  one  could  follow  the  Governor's  earnest  advice^ 
he  would  take  not  only  mosquito  bars  but  the  finest 
woven  illusion  to  keep  out  the  punkies,  midges, 
sand-flies,  and  "  bite-'em-no-see-'ems,"  all  of  which, 
are  the  same  bird  under  different  synonyms.  I  will 
add  that  there  has  just  been  published  a  very  capital 
map  which  will  prove  quite  indispensable  in  making' 
the  tour  of  the  watercourses.  It  has  been  prepared 
from  the  memoranda  of  Mr.  J.  Whitman  Bailey,  and 
is  printed  by  Dannell  &  Upham,  283  Washington 
street,  Boston.  Rapids,  portages,  camping  grounds, 
and  fishing  places  are  marked  upon  it.  It  will  cer- 
tainly prove  a  most  acceptable  aid  to  many  who  will 
visit  that  delectable  country  in  the  future. 

ITINERARY  OF  CANOE  ROUTES. 

1.  From  the  St.  John  River  and  the  Grand  via 
Waagan  and  Waagansis  to  the  river  Restigouche. 

2.  River  Restigouche  and  Tom  Kedgewick  to  Rim- 
ouski  and  the  St.  Lawrence. 

3.  River  Nepissiguit  via  portage  to  the  Northwest 
Miramichi. 


rt 


THE   SALMON   FISHEB. 


75 


4.  From  Bay  Chaleur  via  Restigouche  and  its  af~ 
.fluent  Upsalquitch  to  the  Nepissiguit. 

5.  St.  John  River  via  the  Tobiqne  and  Nictor  to 
the  river  Nepissiguit. 

6.  From  St.  John  River  via  the  Madawaska,  Lake 
Temiscouta  and  Trois  Pistoles  to  the  St.  Lawrence. 

7.  Via  the  Southwest  Miramichi  and  portage  to  the 
Nashwaak  and  St.  John  rivers. 

8.  From  the  St.  John  via  the  Tobique  River  and 
Right  Hand  Brook  to  Long  Lake,  and  portage  to> 
the  Little  Southwest  Miramichi  and  the  main  river» 

9.  From  St.  Stephen  on  Bay  of  Fundy  via  St. 
Croix  River,  Cheputnacook  Lake  and  Monument 
Brook,  to  portage,  and  via  Meduxnakik  to  Wood- 
stock  on  the  St.  John. 

10.  From  city  of  St.  John  on  river  St.  John  to 
Grand  Lake,  Salmon  River,  and  portage  to  Richi- 
bucto  River  and  Gulf  of  St.  Lawrence. 

11.  From  St.  John  up  the  Kennebeccasis  bay  and 
river,  with  portage  to  the  Pedicodiac  and  Chignecto« 
Bay. 

12.  From  St.  John  River  via  the  Washdemoak  and 
New  Canaan  River  to  portage  and  the  Cocagna 
River  to  Northumberland  Strait  on  the  Gulf  of  St^ 
Lawrence. 

The  nine  first  named  are  the  most  interesting  by^ 
long  odds.     Of  course  the  tourist  must  know  that 


74 


THE  SALMON   FISHEB. 


lie  is  not  at  liberty  to  catch  salmon  anywhere  except 
hy  favor,  but  trout  fishing  can  be  indulged  in  ad  lib- 
ituvif  and  no  doubt  the  privilege  of  trying  for  a  sal- 
mon or  two  would  not  be  denied  on  occasion  by  the 
lessee  or  river  guardian.  I  don't  think  salmon  can 
now  be  found  on  the  three  last  named  routes,  but 
there  are  other  nice  fish,  and  the  scenery  is  charm- 
ing, being  for  the  most  part  pastoral,  and  long  since 
civilized  out  of  its  wilderness  characteristics. 

The  northern  part  of  Maine  has  somewhat  similar 
advantages  for  protracted  and  continuous  canoe 
rentes.  There  being  a  watershed  about  midway  of 
the  Aroostook  which  throws  the  streams  northward 
to  the  upper  St.  John  and  southward  into  the  larger 
rivers  which  run  to  tidewater  on  the  Atlantic,  one 
can  choose  among  several.  The  tributaries  of  the 
Penobscot  spread  out  like  fingers  to  touch  the  feed- 
ers of  the  opposite  slope.  From  the  headwaters  of 
the  Mattawamkeag  you  can  portage  to  the  Aroostook 
BiVer  and  the  St.  John  ;  from  hejidwaters  of  the 
west  branch  of  the  Penobscot  to  the  "Walloostook ; 
from  the  Seboois  into  the  Aroostook,  from  Wasata- 
quoik  into  the  Allegash,  from  the  little  Machias 


^ 


THE   SALMON    FISHER. 


75 


; 


Brook,  which  is  a  feeder  of  the  Aroostook,  into  the 
"well-known  Fish  River  chain  of  lakes  emptying  into 
the  upper  St.  John.  Then  there  is  the  old-time  cir- 
cumbendibus route  up  the  Kennebec,  through 
Moosehead  Lake  to  the  upper  waters  of  the  west 
branch  of  the  Penobscot,  and  down  that  stream 
south  to  the  main  river. 

Ohl  a  wonderful  land  is  the  interior  of  New 
Brunswick,  rising  like  an  emerald  boss  out  of  the 
encircling  sea,  with  its  central  entrance  culminating 
in  bald  mountain  knobs,  studded  with  sparkling 
lakes  and  crowned  by  enormous  pines  whose  meas- 
ured height  has  reached  138  feet ;  lakes  which  form 
the  catch-basins  or  reservoirs  of  the  many  delecta- 
ble salmon  streams  which  radiate  therefrom  to  every 
point  of  the  compass  and  are  easily  traversed  from 
source  to  source  by  the  short  portages  indicated 
above,  whereby,  having  ascended  one  difficult  stream, 
you  may  reach  and  descend  another  in  an  opposite 
direction.  Many  are  the  mid-summer  weeks  which. 
I  have  passed  alone  on  these  traverses,  or  carries, 
and  these  changeful  rivers,  in  company  of  my  faith- 
ful Indians,  with  no  other  shelter  from  the  dew  or 


\ ' 


76 


TUE   SALMON   FISHER. 


drenching  showers  than  the  birch  canoe  turned  over 
on  the  river  bank  and  propped  by  the  paddles 
against  the  gunwale.  Sometimes  it  was  Larry  and 
Oabe,  and  sometimes  Peter  and  John — jirototypes  of 
the  ancient  fishermen  of  Galilee — and  I  can  almost 
imagine  as  I  write  that  I  hear  the  measured  click  of 
their  iron-shod  setting-poles  as  they  steadily  prod 
their  arduous  way  up  the  rajiids  and  over  the  shoals. 
Envious  am  I  of  the  *'  noonings  "  we  had  beside  the 
mouths  of  the  ice  cold  brooks  which  flowed  into  the 
main  river,  where  a  mug  of  cooled  Alsop  never 
tasted  so  good,  or  a  homely  lunch  so  appetizing. 

It  is  of  the  varying  moods  and  tenses  of  these 
changeful  rivers  that  I  love  to  think  and  speak,  be- 
cause it  is  their  intensely  specific  characteristics 
"which  make  salmon  fishing  superlative,  and  of  all 
the  piscatory  accomplishments  the  most  difiicult  to 
learn — the  most  difficult  to  diagnose  and  master.  I 
liave  great  respect  for  the  expert  who  can  handle 
and  boat  a  mighty  tarpum  in  open  sea  with  rod  and 
reel,  or  beach  and  gaff  a  striped  bass  from  the  surf- 
worn  rocks  ;  nevertheless,  no  fish  that  swims  is  the 
peer  of  the  salmon,  and  no  angling  experience  or 


THE   SALMON    FISHER.  77 

pastime  carries  with  it  the  exciting  episodes,  aspects 
and  vicissitudes  of  Sialmon  fishing.  These  coastwise 
outings  are  harrc n  of  strange  happenings  and  exi- 
gencies. They  hick  the  captivating  mystery  of  the 
woods,  the  hourly  recurrence  of  ever-changing 
views,  and,  metaphysically  s})eaking,  the  stutfinwnt  of 
the  occasion.  The  tarpum  is  a  John  L.  Sullivan 
among  fishes,  a  slugger  and  a  smasher  of  lines  and 
hooks,  filled  with  ponderosity,  hrute  force  and  vio- 
lence ;  he  is  a  runaway  horse  with  the  bits  in  his 
mouth  ;  a  tearing  toros  of  the  bull-ring.  As  for 
striped  bass  fishing,  it  is  a  glowing  theme  of  the 
sounding  sea  and  surf — a  symphony  of  "  what  the 
wild  waves  are  saying."  The  physical  enjoyment  is 
exquisite,  and  there  is  a  mental  exhilaration  besides  ; 
but  compared  with  salmon  fishing  it  is  monotonous — 
monotonous,  but  not  tame.  There  is  nothing  vapid 
about  the  wind-swept  shores  and  salt  breezes  of 
Pasque  Island  and  Cuttyhunk.  But,  bless  me  I 
there  are  more  sides  to  salmon  fishing  than  there 
are  facets  to  a  cut  gem,  or  patterns  to  a  kaleidoscope. 
As  I  have  said,  the  play  of  the  salmon  depends 
upon  the  temper  of  the  river.    Wherever  there  is 


' 


'-Ml 


'■k  i         '     ' 


i  I 


78 


THE  SALMON   FISHER. 


foam  and  sparkle  there  is  oxygen  and  energy.  In 
dead  water  fish  are  sluggish.  Rivers  are  as  different 
as  horses.  Some  are  wild,  impetuous  and  untam- 
able ;  others  restive  as  an  Arabian  courser.  Some 
plod  like  a  plow-horse,  and  othcx's  buck  like  a 
broncho  or  kick  like  a  muLa.  Some  dash  to  the  sea 
in  a  straight-away  course  with  scarcely  a  break,  and 
others  wind  with  a  sinuous  and  solemn  monotony 
like  blind  cobs  in  a  treadmill.  Some  are  like  circus 
horsejj,  cavorting  in  many  an  eddy  and  flying  leap, 
and  others  tumble  and  plunge  like  colts  at  the  hur- 
dles. Some  have  breadth  and  depth  and  sweep, 
while  others  are  pent-^^p,  curbed  and  narrow ; 
churned  into  constant  lother  and  foam.  In  some 
rivers  the  pools  are  frequent  and  spacious,  oi3en  to 
the  sunlight,  and  glinting  with  bright  pebbly  bot- 
toms ;  in  others  they  are  short,  angry  and  broken, 
filled  with  debris  and  boulders.  Some  are  overhung 
by  protruding  branches  and  thickets,  while  others 
flow  under  the  gloomy  shadows  of  jutting  cliffs. 
There  is  no  end  to  the  composition  and  phases  of 
rivv^rs,  and  consequently  no  end  to  the  artifices  and 
methods  of  the  angler. 


THE   SALMON    FISHER. 


79 


It  is  this  complexity  which  makes  the  study  and 
practice  of  sahnon  angling  a  high  art.  In  human 
nature  you  cannot  interpret  one  face,  or  type,  or 
character,  by  another  ;  no  more  can  the  salmon  an- 
gler predicate  the  disposition  of  one  river  hy  the 
idiosyncracies  of  another.  The  ambitious  aspirant 
can  become  an  adept  only  by  the  widest  practical 
experience.  Much  less  can  he  instruct  others  by  the 
card.  It  is  impossible  for  book  or  tutor  to  prescribe 
and  apply  stereotyped  tactics  in  handling  a  salmon 
or  wooing  a  stream.  Just  here  is  where  those  mar- 
tinets who  devise  manuals  signally  fail  to  satisfy  the 
neophyte.  If  all  streams  were  alike,  with  plenty  of 
breadth  and  depth  and  scope,  it  would  be  different. 
Given  plenty  of  sea-room,  with  a  v/ide-awake  boat- 
man to  follow,  what  tyro  would  fail  to  secure  a  sal- 
mon that  was  well  fastened  ?     Its  behavior  is  alwavs 

ft 

pretty  nearly  the  same  sort  of  a  circus,  much  as  the 
lamented  Francis  Francis  describes  it  in  his  inimi- 
table "  Sporting  Sketches,"  published  in  London  in 
1878  :  *'  A  twenty  or  thirty  yards'  run  when  first 
hooked  ;  then  round,  head  to  stream,  boring  against 
it  hither  and  thither  ;  a  swim  around  more  like  a 


V'' 


80 


THE  SALMON   FISHER. 


barbel  than  a  salmon  ;  then  another  short  run  ;  then 
round  head  to  stream  again  ;  till,  getting  tired  of 
the  rather  sluggish  business,  you  put  on  a  long, 
Ktrong  pull,  and  your  man,  knee-deep  in  Avater,  just 
manages  to  clip  the  fish  as  he  wallops  past,  good  for 
another  ten  minutes'  boring,  perhaps  " — and  mean- 
while, we  may  infer,  showing  great  breadth  of  tail, 
but  no  mettle.  Fishes  like  these  do  not  seem  to 
wake  uj)  to  the  crisis  until  the  final  prick  of  the  gaff 
strikes  into  their  very  nerve-cores.  Of  course  the 
experienced  angler  knows  just  what  to  do  at  each 
step,  when  to  give  and  take,  and  "when  to  check,  fol- 
low, or  persuade. 

To  the  self-constituted  preceptor  sueh  opportunity 
is  golden.  Under  the  circumstances  he  is  fully  com- 
petent to  coach.  It  is  like  directing  a  pujjil  at  the 
riding  school  to  pull  this  rein  to  go  to  the  right  and 
that  to  go  to  the  left.  If  the  preceptor  be  a  "  con- 
templative angler,"  he  will  have  abundant  time  to 
formulate  tactics  never  dreamed  of  by  practitioners 
oi  the  old  school,  and  thus  win  plaudits  for  his  su- 
perior genius  from  admiring  parvenus  who  are  in- 
i'lined  to  fatuitously  follow  the  flash  of  a  brilliant 


THE   SALMON    FISHER. 


81 


lit 


lead.  I  do  not  know  of  so  likely  a  place  for  kinder- 
garten practice  as  the  lower  Restigouche  from  its 
confluence  with  the  Metapedia,  j^ast  the  club  house 
and  railroad  bridge  to  tidewater.  It  affords  unlim- 
ited flailing  room,  and  there  are  no  obtruding  trees 
to  pick  up  flying  gut-lengths,  no  rough  water,  no 
snags,  and  no  ugly  pitches  ;  yet  of  the  scores  of  fish- 
ermen who  congregate  there  daily  during  the  fish- 
ing season,  calling  themselves  anglers,  how  few  are 
successful  I     How  manv  fish  are  hooked  and  lost ! 

On  what  the  Scotchmen  call  '*  a  wicked  river,"  the 
work  is  more  exacting.  There  are  occasions  and  sit- 
uations where  the  capture  of  a  salmon  is  truly  a  test 
of  strategic  ability,  and  not  of  mere  mechanical  ma- 
nipulation,  and  I  may  much  doubt  if  any  preceptor, 
by  book  or  exam])]e,  can  impart  the  genius  necessary 
to  bring  a  fish  to  gaff.  The  Godbout,  and  the  like 
Laurentian  rivers,  whose  whole  length  is  a  foaming 
torrent,  would  m.'ike  a  smooth-water  angler  turn 
pale  to  contemplate  as  a  place  to  fish.  I  imagine 
that  the  Scotch  river  Erne,  of  which  Mr  Francis 
writes  so  glowingly,  is  of  much  the  same  character — 
"where  you  must  wade,  and  often  dee2:>ly,  in  places 


82 


THE   SALMON    FISHER. 


"where  a  false  step  or  a  stumble  might  cost  you  your 
life,  where  every  cast  is  widely  different  in  charac- 
ter, where  on  some  casts  hidden  dangers  of  every 
kind  abound,  and  where  the  most  ordinary  stream  is 
deep,  strong,  rajoid  and  rocky  ;  where  several  of  the 
pools  lie  just  above  the  wildest  and  most  dangerous 
rapids,  down  which  j^our  fish  is  just  as  likely  to 
l^lunge  as  not,  and  you  never  can  count  on  killing 
your  fish  until  you  have  him  on  the  bank." 

Such  rivers  as  these  try  the  angler's  mettle  as  well 
as  his  science.  Tactics  of  the  drill-master  fail  here. 
Instinct  becomes  a  better  prompter  than  a  "  rule  of 
three."  Expedients  are  suggested  by  emergencies, 
both  to  the  salmon  and  his  captor,  in  marvellously 
rapid  succession.  The  hooked  fish,  after  his  first 
momentary  fright  on  getting  fast,  collects  his  senses, 
and,  like  the  chased  deer  and  fox,  devises  stratagems 
on  the  jump.  You  have  no  time  to  dally.  Playing 
your  fish  becomes  a  desperate  struggle,  like  a  Spar- 
tan tilt.  The  contest  taxes  all  the  energies  of  brain 
and  muscle.  You  must  kill  your  fish  on  short  line 
wdth  rod  bent  double,  or  have  him  break  away.  You 
must   drop  your  tip  when  he  vaults  clear  of  the 


I  I 


THE    SALMON    FISHER. 


83 


'u^ater,  and  "  slue  "  him  off  from  dangerous  places 
"vvlien  Le  gathers  headway.  You  summon  the  forces 
of  the  current  to  your  aid  in  accelerating  a  favorable 
momentum,  and  you  counteract  them  when  the  in- 
fluence is  adverse.  If  the  salmon  once  gets  out  of 
the  pool  into  the  race-way  of  the  impetuous  lower 
stream,  there  is  nothing  to  do  but  follow  him  down 
the  bank  and  over  the  slippery  rocks,  into  the  water 
and  out  of  the  water,  slioe-deej^  or  waist-deep,  lifting 
your  line  over  obstructing  boulders  in  the  channel, 
watching  out  for  projecting  ledges  or  branches, 
keeping  your  weather  eye  always  on  the  fish  and 
looking  ahead  for  the  best  footing,  holding  your  rod 
up  and  never  i)ermitting  slack  even  though  you 
stumble  full  length  over  the  rocks  ;  not  minding 
thumps  or  bruises,  but  keej^ing  your  wind  and  sav- 
ing 3'our  fish,  no  matter  if  you  break  your  neck. 
And  you  keep  this  up  one  hour  perhajos,  giving  as 
little  line  as  possible,  until  finally  you  are  so  limp 
and  blown  that  you  couldn't  puff  out  a  candle  with 
y^our  breath,  and  in  bodily  condition  much  like  the 
salmon,  your  opponent,  which  by  this  time  has  haply- 
turned  up  his  silvery  side  at  the  foot  of  the  rajjid. 


84 


THE   SALMON    FISHER. 


convenient  for  the  clip  of  your  exultant  and  admir- 
ing gaffer.  Pray  tell  me,  good  indulgent  reader, 
how  the  self-sufficient  author  of  the  Yade  Mecum  ifi 
to  instruct  you  to  do  all  this  ?  And  this  masterly 
rough  work  is  not  accomplished  single-handed,  by  a 
good  deal.  Your  attendant  is  an  almost  indispen- 
sable factor.  He  must  be  mentor  as  well  as  assist- 
ant. In  fact,  he  ought  to  be  as  intelligent  and  ex- 
j)erienced  as  his  master.  He  is  not  there  merely  to 
basket  the  fish  and  tote  them.  He  should  have 
sense  when  to  advise  his  companion,  and  when  to 
refrain,  and  above  all  things  he  should  be  cool  and 
self-possessed.  He  is  able  to  perceive  from  lateral 
points  of  observation  what  the  man  with  the  rod 
cannot  see,  and  thus  often  to  anticipate  the  inten- 
tions of  the  fieh  and  head  them  off.  He  is  to  clear 
away  bushes  Avhich  interpose,  and  rocks  which  im- 
pede the  passage  along  the  bank  ;  he  is  to  take  the 
rod  betimes  into  his  OAvn  hands  while  the  angler 
gains  a  better  foothold  or  more  advantageous  posi- 
tion, to  steady  him  by  the  shoulders  in  difficult 
places,  to  help  him  by  the  hand  and  steer  him,  as  a. 
policeman  guides  a  lady  or  a  cripple  through  the  in- 


THE   SALMON    FISHER. 


85 


tricacies  of  a  tlirongiug  thoroughfare  ;  and  worse 
thau  an  idiot  would  be  the  bumptious  dolt  who 
would  spurn  his  timely  counsel. 

And  this  inclines  me  here  to  say,  by  way  of  pero- 
ration, which  may  as  well  come  now  as  later,  that  a 
w^ise  man,  no  matter  how  well  informed  and  ca2)able 
he  may  be,  will  lend  an  attentive  ear  to  the  views  of 
others,  however  humble  they  may  be,  if  j^eradven- 
ture  he  may  add  some  iota  to  his  attainments  to 
make  them  perfect;  but  it  is  a  bad  sign  when  a  busi- 
ness man  or  angler  feels  that  he  has  nothing  more 
to  learn.  The  smart  man,  whose  surname  is  "  Aleck," 
despises  the  traditions  of  the  elders.  He  discards 
all  precedents,  and  sets  up  innovations  and  devices 
which  may  command  the  evanescent  approval  and 
endorsement  of  untutored  neophytes  who  coutide  in 
him;  nevertheless,  he  smashes  more  rods  than  they, 
and  catches  less  fish.  The  like  of  him  are  not  teach- 
ers, but  iconoclasts,  and  poor  ones  at  that,  for  they 
are  unable  to  distinguish  between  the  golden  idols 
and  those  wdiich  are  of  clay.  The  mischief  which 
they  do  among  the  craft  is  great.  They  are  like 
sturgeons  in  a  purse-net,  with  much  threshing  about 


t  i 


:,;j  j 


[<'< 


Ha 


86 


THE   SALMON   FISHER. 


and  very  little  profit  to  tlieir  im2)ounclcd  fellow-cap- 
tives or  the  tislierman. 

Singular  as  it  may  seem,  the  Lest  trout  fishermen 
make  but  a  poor  fist  at  salmon  fishing  at  their  first 
venture.  They  have  much  to  unlearn.  They  need 
coaching;  for  they  invariably  waste  precious  time  in 
prolonged  and  indiscriminate  threshing  of  unlikely 
places,  and  skitter  their  flies  over  the  broad  surface 
of  the  jiools  with  artistic  play  but  fruitless  reward. 
Now,  a  trout  seldom  takes  a  submerged  or  still  fly. 
He  seems  to  perceive  the  deception  and  leaves  it. 
Salmon,  on  the  contrary,  almost  always  take  the  fly 
a  little  submerged.  As  a  general  rule  the  proficient 
angler  casts  straight  for  the  tail  of  a  pool  without 
making  any  graduated  approximate  essays,  for  the 
rising  fish  seldom  lie  anywhere  else,  and  casting  at 
random  is  sheer  waste  of  time.  The  distance  to  be 
cast  should  be  calculated  nicely,  and  no  longer  line 
be  thrown  than  is  necessary.  The  cast  being  made 
the  angler  at  once  imparts  to  his  fly  some  such  mo- 
tions as  a  shrimp  makes  in  the  water  (which  it  is 
sui:)posed  to  resemble),  though  not  so  jerky,  moving 
the  top  of  the  rod  laterally  three  or  four  feet  every 


/• 


THE    SALMON    FISUER. 


87 


</ 


two  seconds  or  so.  As  a  rule  salmon  roll  up  slug- 
gishly to  the  surface  with  a  bulge,  and  take  the  fly 
so  quietly  that  a  novice  will  fail  to  notice  it,  but  the 
ever  watchful  eye  of  the  expert  detects  the  slightest 
*'  boil."  In  trout  fishing  we  are  accustomed  to  strike 
at  a  rise.  In  salmon  fishing  he  who  strikes  will  most 
certainly  lose  his  fish.  Time  must  be  given.  We  do 
not  exactly  let  the  salmon  hook  himself,  but  we  in- 
stinctively tauten  the  line  at  the  proper  instant,  and 
presto  I  the  fish  is  fast.  The  movement  is  as  difiicult 
to  describe  as  the  traditional  *'  wrist  knack  "  which 
fastens  a  trout.  If  a  salmon  rises  once  to  a  fly  and 
misses,  immediately  cast  elsewhere,  and  let  a  full 
minute  elapse  before  trying  him  a  second  time.  The 
instant  you  find  your  fish  fast,  raise  your  rod  to  a 
perpendicular  and  keej)  it  vj),  unless  the  salmon  leaps 
from  the  water,  in  which  event  you  dip  the  tip  defer- 
entially at  once.  The  politeness  will  cost  nothing 
and  will  save  your  tackle.  Subsequent  manoeuvres 
will  depend  on  the  movements  of  the  fish.  Some- 
times it  will  take  him  several  seconds  to  comprehend 
that  there  is  trouble — then  he  scoots !  Fish  when 
first  hooked  usually  make  for  the  upper  stream. 


88 


THE  sal:mon  fisher. 


Their  instinct  is  upward.  A  f resh-nin  fish  goes  down 
stream  only  when  he  is  bewildered,  or  when  he 
cannot  help  it.  I  do  not  think  a  headlong  pitch 
down  a  rapid  is  ever  a  part  of  his  recognized  tactics. 
It  takes  his  breath  away.  When  a  fish  gets  into  a 
rapid  he  becomes  passive  at  once  and  is  swept  down 
the  current  like  a  dead  fish.  He  makes  no  effort  to 
bore  his  way  up,  but  tugs  at  the  line  in  a  dogged  endea- 
vor to  get  loose  somehow,  and  is  swept  down  until  he 
fetches  up  in  an  eddy,  or  perhaps  in  still  water  be- 
hind a  boulder.  As  a  rule,  the  methods'of  a  salmon 
on  a  hook  comprise  a  series  of  short  runs  alternating 
with  circular  sweeps,  as  Francis  Francis  has  men- 
tioned. Indeed,  what  can  he  do  otherwise,  wdth  a 
vertical  lifting  power  at  his  nose  which  never  relaxes 
except  when  he  temporarily  ceases  his  own  exer- 
tions ?  Then  of  course  the  angler  at  once  reels  him 
in,  passive,  toward  the  ever  ready  gaff,  and  there  is 
nothing  for  him  to  do  but  to  make  another  desper- 
ate break  for  liberty,  and  pull  away  with  all  his 
might.  When  he  does  this  he  makes  the  reel  sing 
again,  which  is  the  music  the  angler  likes  so  much 
to  hear.     It  must  be  a  prodigious  exertion  for  him 


THE   SALMON    FISHER. 


S9 


to  dive  and  hold  on  to  the  bottom  for  so  long  a  time 
as  he  often  does,  say  twenty  minutes  or  more.  Peo- 
ple call  this  manceuvre  "sulking."  Save  the  marlc ! 
Only  spoiled  children  sulk.  Rather  call  it  brave  de-^ 
termination  and  sublime  effort.  I  am  quite  prei)arod 
to  believe  that  the  salmon  knows  instinctively  that 
if  he  yields  the  game  is  up,  and  that  if  he  continues, 
to  run  he  will  only  exhaust  himself.  In  such  a  di- 
lemma where  is  the  alternative  ?  Simi)ly  the  leap  I 
This  he  cogitates  out  for  himself  down  there  on  the 
bottom.  It  is  desperate,  but  the  only  resource. 
And  now  he  girds  his  loins  and  fixes  his  broad  tail 
obliquely."  Ha!  did  you  notice  that  tremulous 
movement?  Did  you  feel  him  shake  his  head? 
"Ware  now  I  he  is  getting  ready  for  a  spurt.  Expe^ 
rience  has  taught  the  proficient  angler  what  to  ex- 
pect ;  and  surely  enough,  there  he  goes  clean, 
through  the  surface  and  straight  up  out  into  the 
open  air.  What  a  glorious  leap !  Now  is  the  time 
to  drop  your  tip.  Let  your  pliant  rod  make  its  most 
obsequious  bow.  Such  masterly  strategy  deserves 
appreciative  recognition.  Well  done,  Piscator !  You 
have  saved  your  tackle  and  your  fish.     Look  out  for 


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THE  SALMON  FI8H£B. 


a  second  leap.  Had  the  line  been  kept  taut  lie  would 
have  thrown  his  whole  weight  upon  it  and  snapped 
it  in  a  twinkling.  Now  he  is  quiet  again  after  that 
futile  effort.  He  seems  submissive — so  let  us  shove 
the  but  at  him  and  try  and  tow  him  to  the  land. 
Beel  in  firmly  and  watch  carefully,  for  he  may  at- 
tempt another  jump.  Lead  him  up  to  the  beach 
toward  the  gaffer,  for  there  is  a  better  chance  to 
land  him  there. 

Now,  mark,  good  pupil  I  a  critical  juncture  is  at 
hand.  Although  apparently  a  certain  capture,  do 
not  be  too  sure.  Much  depends  upon  your  steadi- 
ness and  the  dexterity  and  judgment  of  the  gaffer, 
and  much  upon  the  temper  of  the  fish,  which  is  not 
always  the  dead  cock  he  seems.  Many  a  goodly  sal- 
mon has  been  lost  after  a  hard-fought  battle  when 
he  seemed  fairly  won.  I  have  sometimes  stood 
breathless,  watching  a  comrade  heaving  steadily  on 
his  fish  and  gradually  leading  him  to  the  shore,  with 
his  rod  almost  bent  double  and  the  full  length  of  the 
beautiful  white  belly  exposed  to  view,  when  the 
clumsy  gaffer  floundered  in  knee-deep,  and  lunging 
wildly,  barely  managed  to  scratch  the  struggling  fish 


THE    SALMON    FISHER. 


91 


as  he  walloped  past  him,  once  more  in  full  career  for 
the  centre  pool,  ready  to  renew  the  battle  and  pro- 
long it  for  another  twenty  minutes  or  an  hour.  A. 
good  gaffer  keeps  quiet  and  out  of  the  water  and  out 
of  sight  as  much  as  possible,  makes  no  abrupt  starts, 
watches  every  movement  of  the  fish,  and  never  makes 
a  false  coup.  Clip!  splash!  there,  he  has  him  se- 
curely on  the  iron  I  Let  your  line  run  out  now  ad 
libitum  and  give  the  strained  rod  a  rest.  You  see> 
the  fly  has  actually  dropped  out  of  his  mouth,  sa 
that  only  skillful  handling  saved  him:  a  good 
wenty-pounder  and  a  trophy  to  be  proud  of. 
Whack  him  sharply  on  the  head  with  a  billet  and 
give  him  his  quietus;  then  you  may  contemplate 
him  at  your  leisure. 

I  do  not  take  kindly  to  gaffs  with  the  point  re- 
curved or  turned  outward.  The  point  should  be 
parallel  with  the  shank,  that  is  to  say,  the  line  of 
draft  at  the  point  should  be  parallel  with  the  line  of 
draft  on  the  shank  and  gaff  handle.  Its  eflScacy  can 
easily  be  tested  by  drawing  the  point  of  the  hook 
against  the  palm  of  the  hand.  The  hook  need  not 
exceed  two  and  a  half  inches  in  the  width  of  the 


t)2 


THE   SALMON    FI3UER. 


"bend  between  shank  and  point.  A  four-foot  handle 
is  the  correct  length.  Jointed  handles  are  conven- 
ient to  carry,  but  they  are  objectionable  on  account 
of  a  possibility  of  their  sliding  or  telescoping  at  crit- 
ical moments.  Wlien  a  fish  is  gaffed  coolness  and 
dexterity  are  indispensable.  Never  be  in  a  hurry. 
Put  the  gaff  into  the  water  as  quietly  as  possible 
and  unobserved  of  the  fish,  to  the  depth  of  fourteen 
inches  or  so,  and  make  the  clip  upward  and  inward, 
eharply  but  without  jerking,  endeavoring  to  fix  the 
point  just  abaft  the  shoulders,  which  is  the  center  of 
gravity.  If  hooked  elsewhere  the  fish  gets  a  big  le- 
verage with  head  or  tail  and  will  make  a  ghastly  rent 
in  his  body,  if  indeed  he  don't  flop  off  the  hook  alto- 
gether. Never  strike  a  fish  in  the  belly.  There  is 
nothing  more  unsightly  than  a  great  gaping  wound> 
especially  if  the  entrails  protrude.  Some  people 
prefer  to  gaff  over  the  back  of  a  fish,  with  the  point 
of  the  gaff  turned  down,  claiming  that  the  refraction 
of  the  handle  in  the  water  is  apt  to  make  the  aim  un- 
certain when  the  clip  is  made  from  underneath  with 
the  point  up,  but  we  think  the  weight  of  argument 
fi  in  favor  of  the  other  method.    The  position  is 


THE    SALMON    FISHER. 


93 


awkward,  to  say  the  least.  In  gaffing  a  fish  "  posi- 
tion is  everything,'^  the  same  as  in  catching  a  base- 
ball or  handling  a  billiard  cue.  Indeed,  a  catclu  r 
on  the  diamond  field  takes  much  the  same  position 
as  the  experienced  gaffer  docs,  only  his  eyes  are 
turned  ui)ward  and  forward  instead  of  downward 
and  obliquely.  The  body  must  be  as  flexible  as  an 
acrobat's.  It  must  have  perfect  j^oise.  The  footing 
must  be  selected  and  assured  in  advance.  A  slii)  on 
the  river  bottom  may  cost  an  hour's  hard  work  with 
the  rod.  The  gaiter  ought  to  choose  the  landing' 
place  in  advance  if  the  fish  is  to  be  gaffed  from  the 
shore,  as  is  usually  done,  and  wade  well  out,  say  to 
the  depth  of  his  knees,  so  that  by  any  chance  the 
fish  may  not  fiounder  loose  by  striking  the  bottom 
in  too  shallow  water.  Then  the  man  with  the  rod 
must  lead  his  captive,  as  best  he  may,  up  to  the 
gaffer,  so  that  he  can  strike  it.  However,  the  fact  is, 
no  fixed  tactics  can  1  o  prescribed.  A  gaffer  has  to 
use  his  judgement,  and  use  it  promptly,  too.  If  he 
gets  "  razzle-dazzled,"  as  the  phrase  is,  he  will  most 
likely  miss  his  fish  altogether,  and  quite  likely  miss 
his  foot,  too,  and  pitch  headlong  into  the  water — 


94 


THE    SALMON    FISHER. 


which  would  serve  him  right.  There  are  as  few  men 
who  know  how  to  use  a  gaff  as  there  are  men  who 
know  how  to  throw  a  lasso.  As  a  rule  the  cautious 
angler  will  not  attempt  to  gaff  his  own  fish.  Indeed, 
in  many  situation^  the  feat  would  be  impossible. 
The  gaffer  ought  to  be  as  expert  as  his  comrade  or 
master,  and  all  his  movements  and  methods  should 
be  in  consonance  with  his  manoeuvres  and  the  play 
of  the  fish.  This  requirement  is  more  exacting  on  a 
wild  river  than  anywhere  else. 


!    I 


Jnmxu  JDf  Salmon  JfTiaFring. 


HAVE  fished  a  good  many  salmon  rivers  since 
thirty  years  ago,  including  many  of  Nova  Sco- 
tia and  most  of  those  on  the  Baie  de  Chaleurs. 
I  have  also  wet  some  flies  in  the  Labrador  streams 
along  the  south  shore,  and  also  on  the  east  shore  as 
far  up  as  the  Narrows  at  Rigolet,  at  the  head  of  the 
Great  Esquimaux  Bay  in  latitude  55  ^ .  But  the  best 
sport  of  all  I  ever  had  was  on  the  Godbotit  in  1879, 
with  that  prince  of  anglers,  Allan  Gilmour,  Esq., 
of  Ottawa,  Canada.  He  owns  the  river  and  5,000 
acres  of  adjacent  lands,  and  for  thirty  years  at  least, 
up  to  1880,  he  annually  fished  his  unequalled  pre- 


1 


96 


THE   SALMON   FISHEB. 


(Ill 


serves  on  the  Lower  St.  Lawrence,  going  and  com- 
ing each  year  in  his  private  steam  yacht,  whose  lux- 
urious appointments  royalty  might  envy,  and  accom- 
panied always  by  invited  guests  of  approved  status 
as  anglers  and  high  social  position,  sometimes  by 
noblemen  and  bishojjs,  and  once  by  Earl  Dufferin, 
the  Governor  General  of  the  Dominion,  whom  he  has 
entertained  for  weeks  together  with  luxuries  brought 
to  his  distant  fishing  camp,  300  miles  below  Quebec, 
on  his  steam  tender.  The  lavish  expenditure  laid 
out  upon  his  extensive  domain  in  bridging  ravines, 
protecting  dangerous  cliffs,  providing  easy  ap- 
proaches to  the  salmon  pools,  and  placing  batteaux 
and  boats  at  every  eligible  point ;  in  erecting  build- 
ings for  all  conceivable  requirements,  providing  re- 
freshment places  along  the  tumbling  stream,  and 
leading  the  fountains  gently  from  their  ice-cold  cliffs 
to  the  wayside  ;  all  these,  and  more,  have  excited 
the  admiration  and  astonishment  of  men  who  have 
seen  him.  His  tackle  is  of  the  most  approved  and  ex- 
pensive kind,  and  his  skill  as  a  salmon  angler  per- 
haps unsurpassed  on  either  continent.  A  consider- 
able hamlet  of  habilans  and  half-breed  Lidians  has 


THE   SALMON   FISHER. 


97 


"been  dependent  upon  his  patronage  for  a  livelihood 
Tintil  their  babies  have  grown  to  men  and  women. 
And  yet,  notwithstanding  that  possesi^on  of  wealth, 
position,  associations  and  attainments  which  con- 
spire to  make  a  man  conspicuous,  I  dare  say  the 
name  of  Allan  Gilmour,  of  Ottawa,  Canada,  is  little 
known  to  the  fraternity  of  gentlemen  fishermen  at 
large.  There  are  perhaps  few  others  in  the  United 
States  and  Canada  who  are  his  peers,  and  yet  their 
names  are  seldom  seen  in  print.  Unobtrusively,  on 
each  recurring  summer,  they  reap  the  fulsome  re- 
ward of  their  skill  and  life-long  experience,  and  are 
content  ;  while  others  acquire  an  almost  world-wido 
reputation  whose  maiden  casts  are  scarcely  dry. 
Alas !  how  easily  do  ei)hemera  win  fame  and  glow- 
ing tributes  while  adepts  receive  no  honors  and  are 
overlooked ! 

I  am  moved  to  these  reflections  by  accidentally 
<liscovering  among  some  old-time  memoranda  a  rec- 
ord of  the  Godbout  River  scores  for  several  years — 
from  1859  to  1879,  inclusive.  Full  data  are  given 
only  for  ten  years — 18G5-1875.  They  are  ai^palling 
enough  to  paralyze  the  most  pretentious  anuiteurs. 


98 


THE  SALMON  FISHER. 


1 1 


During  the  period  named  the  following  persons  were 
fishing. 


Capt.  Noble,  England. 
Alex.  Cross,  Montreal. 
Allan  Oilmour,  Ottawa. 
Jan-  es  Law,  Montreal. 
David  Law,  Montreal. 
Mr.  Dyke,  Scotland. 
A.  Oilmour,  Jr.,  Quebec. 
Rev.  Dr.  Adamson.  Ottawa. 
W.  M.  Ramsay,  Montreal. 
John  Oilmour,  Olasgow. 
John  Oilmour,  Jr.,  Quebec. 
Dr.  Campbell,  Montreal. 


A.  T.  Patterson,  Montreal. 
T.  B.  Meigs,  Jersey  City,  N.  J. 
Captain  Dick.  Toronto. 
R.  Muir,  Montreal. 
O.  Denholm,  Montreal. 
Earl  and  Countess  Dufferin  and  party. 
Rev.  D.  M.  Gordon,  Scotland. 
R.  W.  Shepherd,  Montreal. 
Napoleon  A.  Comeau  (river  guardian). 
Mark  Molson  and  son,  Montreal. 
P.  Maonaughton,  Quebec. 
Charles  Hallock,  New  York. 


A.  Urquhart,  Montreal. 

Of  these  Mr.  Allan  Gilmour  made  the  best  score^ 
with  one  exception,  hereafter  mentioned;  John  Gil- 
mour, of  Scotland,  and  James  Law,  of  Montreal^ 
taking  second  and  third  honors  respectively.  The 
other  scores  were  by  no  means  insignificant.  Among 
some  of  the  more  frequent  visitors  to  the  river,  there 
used  to  be  an  emulation  of  the  most  enthusiastic 
character  ;  but  many  who  were  guests  of  their  gen- 
erous host  were  quite  content  with  a  few  fish,  the 
extraordinary  beauty  and  novelty  of  the  landscape 
demanding  a  large  share  of  attention.  One  might 
occupy  his  time  with  matters  more  interesting  than 


' 


THE  SALMON   FISHER.  99 

enlarging  his  score  of  fish.     The  following  is  Allan 
Oilmour's  record  for  the  seasons  named,  to  wit: 

TEAB.  DATS.         FIBH.  LBB.  BEST  DATS. 

1866 M  165  1,667  30—46  fish. 

1866 24  196  1,966  13—24  " 

1867 27  165  1,788  21—26  " 

1868 17  113  1,297  13—23  •• 

1869 28  139  1.467  14—16  " 

1870 17  91  986  13—16  " 

1871 21  102  1,165  10—10    " 

1872 16  68  743  10-12  " 

1873 10  60  MO  6—26  " 

1874 6  64  625  12—13  " 

Orand  total 1,142         12,163 

Is  it  possible  that  the  amateur  salmon  angler  can. 
estimate  or  conceive  the  amount  of  endurance,  to  say 
nothing  of  skill,  required  to  kill  forty- six  salmon, 
averaging  ten  or  eleven  pounds,*  in  a  single  day;  or 
even  the  smaller  number  of  twenty  five  or  thirty  ? 
Oiven  twelve  hours  of  continuous  fishing,  which 
ivould  tire  a  horse,  if  a  horse  could  fish,  a  salmon 
must  be  brought  to  gaff  every  fifteen  minutes  I  No 
time  for  "  playing  "  under  these  circumstances.  An 
angler  would  make  a  poor  showing  on  the  record  if 

♦  Occasionally  a  Oodbont  salmon  will  scale  twenty -eight  to  thirty  pounds, 
1}Ut  the  average  weight  is  light. 

^   ^    ^\ 

«fl  «»  ;«» 

<*       t    '  ^, 


100 


THE   SALMON   FISHER. 


he  let  his  fish  run  for  one  hour  or  more,  which  the 
book  teaches  is  the  quintessence  of  fine  work.  But 
th  e  king  score  of  all  the  rest  has  yet  to  be  recorded^ 
namely,  that  of  Napoleon  A.  Comeau,  the  river 
guardian,  who  happened  to  strike  a  late  and  lively 
run  of  fish  one  season  after  the  visitors  had  left. 
Mr.  Gilmour  declares  it  is  the  best  salmon  fishing 
ever  done  in  the  world!  The  score  is  therefore 
worth  printing  in  full,  and  you  will  find  it  herewith. 
The  year  was  1874: 


DATE.  FISH. 

July   8 7 


9. 
10. 
11. 
13. 
14. 
16. 
16. 
17. 
18. 


.67 
.25 
.34 
.40 
.25 
.16 
.37 
.16 
.28 


LBS. 
80 
634 
282 
361 
438 
253 
172 
394 
186 
286 


PATE.  FISH.      LBS. 

July  20 27  273 

"     21 13  124 

••     22 20  198 

••     23 6  63 

••     24 3  30 

"     27 3  31 

••     28 2  19 

••     31 1  28 

Total 360     3,873 


Mil! 


And  five  grilse. 

Grilse,  or  "jumpers,"  are  not  as  abundant  in  the 
Godbout  and  St.  Lawrence  rivers  as  they  are  in 
those  of  Nova  Scotia,  though  they  afford  the  best 
sort  of  sport  and  are  by  no  means  despised. 


THE  SALMON   FISHER.  101 

TLe  following  table  shows  the  total  scores  made 
on  the  river  for  the  years  named: 

IXAIl.  PAYH.         no.  Ol'  BOD8.        FlflH,  LBi. 

186B 22  4  478  4.C65 

1866 30  4  493  fi.017 

18C7 35  4  427  6,669 

1868 17  8  273  3,066 

1869  28  6  618  6,493 

1870 26  6  399  4.348 

1871..... 27  6  609  6,721 

1872 17  4  217  2,349 

1873 21  7*  132  1.496 

1874 32  6  633  6.931 

1875 11  6  186  2.126 

Grand  total 266  4,262  47,880 

Here  we  have  the  results  of  an  average  of  five  rods 
per  day  for  266  days'  fishing — nearly  twenty-five 
tons  of  salmon !  Besides  the  salmon  there  were  62 
grilse  and  250  sea  trout  caught,  which  took  the  fly 
when  they  were  not  wanted,  being  regarded  as  a 
nuisance  in  the  river. 

The  whole  length  of  the  Godbout  is  much  broken 
by  tumultuous  water,  and  the  pools  are  short,  so 
that  heroic  methods  have  to  be  employed  in  angling. 
There  are  in  all  fifteen  pools,  beginning  with  the 

*  luclMding  Earl  and  Countess  Dufferin  and  party. 


102 


THE   SALMON    FISHER. 


"Upper  Pool."  Then  follow  in  their  order,  down 
river,  the  Eagle,  the  Kennup,  the  Indian,  the  Doc- 
tor's Stone,  the  Haworth,  the  Shea,  the  Chartres, 
Glassy,  Belle,  and  Kate,  all  above  highest  tidewater — 
and  what  glorious  pools  they  are !  wild  with  rocks  ; 
cool  with  ever  glancing  spray  ;  spangled  with  vivid 
evergreens  ;  sombre  in  shadow  and  sparkling  in  sun- 
shine ;  entrancing  in  solitude  ;  ripj^led  only  by  the 
winds  and  the  swirl  of  the  leaping  salmon!  Just 
below  the  double  rapid,  which  is  formed  by  the  out- 
flow of  the  Belle  and  the  Kate,  where  a  pretty 
wooded  islet  divides  the  twin  pools,  we  reach  the 
Camp  Pool,  an  excellent  cast,  even  at  a  medium  stage 
of  water.  Then  follows  the  long  reach  which  flows 
past  the  cottages  for  a  stretch  of  three  hundred 
yards  or  so,  with  the  Kale;  Stone  at  its  foot ;  then 
Kelt  Point,  the  Heights,  cHe  Bear  and  the  Cross 
pools,  succf  ssively.  All  of  these  latter  are  more  or 
less  affected  by  the  tides.  If  the  run  of  fish  is  early 
and  the  river  is  full,  they  afford  good  sport,  and  the 
Bear  and  the  Kaley  Stone  are  favorites.  At  high 
tide,  when  the  water  becomes  salt,  or  at  low  water, 
they  are  useless,  and  the  scope  of  the  river  for  fish- 


THE   SALMON   FISULIl. 


103 


ing  is  contracted  in  proportion.  Often  the  river 
falls  before  the  first  run  of  fish  occurs.  All  of  these 
lower  pools  are  fished  from  Castle-Connell  punts,  of 
the  patterns  used  in  Scotland,  the  angler  standing 
in  the  bow  and  the  gaffer  keeping  the  craft  in  favor- 
able position  with  his  setting  pole  and  drag.  When 
a  fish  is  hung,  it  is  customary  to  i^ush  for  the  shore 
at  once,  and  handle  and  gaff  him  from  the  land. 

Glassy  Pool  is  one  of  the  most  quiet  ard  beautiful 
of  all  the  pools.  It  is  perhaps  sixty  yards  in  diame-  • 
ter.  At  its  very  head  is  a  charming  little  islet,  cap- 
l^ed  with  evergreens,  which  divides  a  most  turbulent 
and  angry  rai)id  which  comes  surging  into  the  pool, 
and  must  be  quite  a  formidable  obstacle  to  the  as- 
cent of  the  salmon.  For  this  reason  the  salmon  are 
sometimes  found  here  in  large  numbers.  The  out- 
flow of  the  pool  is  more  peaceful,  but  still  a  respect- 
able dash  of  broken  water,  down  which  it  is  exhilar- 
ating to  run  a  boat  One  side  of  the  pool  is  flanked 
by  a  wooded  islet  (twin  to  the  one  just  above),  and 
the  other  by  a  precipitous  ledge  of  rock  fringed  with 
evergreens,  and  an  abrupt  hill  rising  above  the  ledge, 
and  clothed  with  a  primitive  forest.     At  the  foot  of 


104 


THE   SALMON    FISHER. 


the  island  an  immense  mass  of  huge  boulders  fills 
one-half  of  the  channel.  Looking  up  the  river  from 
below  this  pool,  the  vista  is  one  of  the  wildest  and 
most  charming  imaginable — the  vivid  green  of  the 
mantling  forest  inclosing  the  sweeping  rapids  of 
churning  foam,  and  the  blue  sky  and  fleecy  clouds 
overarching  from  hill  to  hill.  The  two  islets  gem 
the  middle  foreground,  while  the  boulders  and  the 
ragged  ledges  add  most  striking  features  to  the  pic- 
ture. Nothing  can  be  be  more  characteristic  of  this 
northern  latitude  than  these  lofty,  fir-clad,  towering 
hills,  which  are  almost  mountains,  and  the  white 
seething  foam  of  the  ice-cold  river  leaping  down  its 
ragged  channel-way. 

Most  of  the  pools  above  the  Glassy  are  of  quite  a 
different  character,  being  bits  of  eddying  water, 
where,  if  a  fish  is  hooked,  it  is  a  rattling  combat  from 
start  to  finish.  If  the  angler  yields  an  inch,  the 
captive  gets  into  the  rapid  and  is  captive  no  more. 

"VVe  take  things  easy  at  camp.  There  is  no  stealing 
a  march  on  your  comrades  by  sneaking  away  to  the 
river  at  earliest  dawn.  Indeed,  it  is  against  rules  to 
fish  before   breakfast.      Breakfast   comes  on   at  8 


THE   SALMON    FISHEK. 


105 


S 

a 
i 
e 
f 

B 
1 


o'clock.  As  a  rule,  an  early  start  is  no  object,  for 
each  daily  run  of  fish  takes  place  with  the  tide,  and 
the  tides  only  serve  on  occasion.  One  after  another 
each  boat  gets  away,  and  the  camp  is  left  alone  in 
charge  of  the  cook,  who  remains  sole  representative 
of  the  red  flag  which  flutters  and  floats  from  the  tall 
staff  on  the  tower.  One  boat  drifts  slowly  down 
stream  with  the  current,  a  drag  at  its  stern  checking- 
its  progress.  It  has  been  assigned  to  the  lower 
pools.  A  second  poles  up  along  shore  to  the  foot  of 
the  first  left-hand  rapid,  which  is  the  outflow  of  the 
Belle,  and  the  angler  disembarks  and  walks  up  along- 
the  pebbly  shore  of  an  island  to  his  proper  casting* 
ground.  On  the  opposite  side  of  the  island  is  tha 
comj^anion  pool  of  the  Belle,  called  the  Kate.  These 
pools  are  always  assigned  to  one  rod  when  there  are 
four  rods  to  the  river;  and  beautiful  and  well-named 
they  are.  Sprightly,  sparkling,  and  vocal  w4th  the 
dash  and  roar  which  please  the  angler.  The  camp 
is  always  visible  from  these  pools,  only  a  quarter  of 
a  mile  distant.  The  two  other  boats  cross  the  river 
and  pusli  for  the  foot  of  the  Kate,  where  they  are 
beached,  the  occupants  taking  the  path  through  tlici. 


!!M 


i|!  ,  i 


106 


THE   SALMON   FISHER. 


woods  to  the  centre  and  upper  pools.  This  path  is 
no  blind  trail  tangled  with  roots,  obstructed  with 
stones,  and  soft  with  miry  spots,  but  a  hard  and 
w^ell-beaten  track,  whose  inequalities  of  surface  have 
carefully  been  removed.  Chasms  and  swampy  places 
have  been  bridged  with  hewn  logs.  Hand  rails  have 
been  stretched  along  the  precipitous  ledges  which 
infringe  on  the  rapids;  huge  rocks  which  obstructed 
the  passage  have  been  blown  away;  sides  of  the  hill 
liave  been  dug  down;  steps  have  been  cut  in  the 
granite;  hollows  have  been  filled  up  with  earth. 
Here  and  there  along  the  route  sparkling  springs, 
cooled  by  the  ice  of  the  previous  winter  which  had 
Dot  yet  melted  altogether  away  from  the  rifts  and 
crevices,  gush  from  the  moss-padded  clefts  and 
empty  into  convenient  artificial  basins,  at  which  tin 
cups  have  been  placed  for  grateful  service  to  the 
thirsty.  As  the  banks  are  steep,  the  path  for  the 
most  part  is  many  feet  above  the  river  bed  and 
within  sight  of  the  stream.  Sometimes  it  buries  it- 
self in  the  thick  spruces  and  balsams,  and  betimes 
v.inds  down  to  the  very  edge  of  the  water.  The  . 
I  lew  is  constantly  changing  as  one  passes  along,  not 


THE   SALMON    FISHER. 


107 


only  from  placid  pool  to  impetuous  rapid,  and  from 
impinging  crag  to  sloping  shore,  but  each  rapid  has^ 
its  constantly  varying  moods  and  features,  and  each 
separate  landscape  some  striking  point  of  view.  In 
a  dark,  retreating  cleft  of  a  great  cliff  on  the  opposite 
side  is  a  large  mass  of  clinging  ice,  which  it  will  still 
take  weeks  of  the  July  sun  to  melt;  and  oh!  how 
refreshing  it  is,  when  we  are  hot  and  moist  with  our 
long  tramp,  to  turn  and  gaze  thereon.  With  a 
yearning  look,  we  hasten  on  to  the  next  way-side 
basin  to  refresh  our  parched  palates. 

Another  princely  salmon  preserve  of  entirely  dif- 
ferent characteristics  is  that  of  Dr.  J.  H.  Baxter,  U* 
S.  A.,  which  is  located  on  the  Restigouche  River,  in 
New  Brunswick,  a  half  mile  or  so  below  the  waters- 
of  the  Restigouche  Club. 

Let  me  compare  the  two  : 

Mr.  Gilmour's  establishment  is  an  oasis  of  luxury 
in  a  desert  of  wilderness,  far  beyond  the  reach  of  or- 
dinary intercourse  of  men,  and  is  isolated  by  cli- 
matic rigors  for  eight  months  of  the  year.  Its  chief 
charm  consists  in  its  unkempt  and  savage  grandeur. 
Here  are  rocks  projecting,  precipices  overhanging. 


108 


THE   SALSION    FISHER. 


»^1     i 


fir  trees  clinging  to  perpendicular  heights,  huge 
l30ulders  piled  in  mid-stream,  walls  contracting  into 
gorges  and  ravines ;  while  through  the  rugged 
channel  the  river  chafes  and  roars,  tossing  its 
•crested  waves  in  a  turbulence  of  foam,  leaping  cas- 
cades and  shivering  itself  in  showers  of  spray.  And 
in  the  midst  of  it  all  is  that  supervening  sense  of 
triumph  and  comfortable  enjoyment  which  the  mas- 
ter feels  who  has  been  able  to  surmount  all  the  sav- 
age inhospitability  of  the  place,  and  make  himself 
snug  and  independent  by  the  abundant  provision 
which  he  has  gathered  for  creature  wants  and  men- 
tal diversion.  From  the  crown  of  the  hill  which 
overlooks  the  camp  is  a  sweeping  view  of  the  River 
St.  Lawrence,  which  is  fortv-live  miles  wide  at  this 
point,  spread  out  like  an  ocean  to  the  limit  of  vision; 
while  the  river  Godbout  exj^ands  at  our  feet  into  a 
broad  estuary  of  circular  form,  inclosed  by  high 
bluffs  covered  with  pine  and  divided  in  the  centre 
by  two  large  picturesque  islands  wliose  foliage 
grows  vigorously  under  the  shelter  of  tlie  hills.  A 
flat,  narrow  island  two  miles  long  extends  across  the 
full  width  of  the  estuary,  j^rotecting  it  securely,  and 


THE   SALMON   FISHEB. 


109 


forming  a  breakwater  which  affords  effectual  shel- 
ter from  the  booming  seas  which  break  on  the  pro- 
montories when  storms  drive  in  from  the  eastward. 
On  this  strip  of  land,  not  altogether  destitute  of  fo- 
liage in  summer,  is  the  home  of  Napoleon  Comeau, 
the  river  guardian,  and  a  small  community  of  hab- 
ifan."^  and  Montaiguais  half-breeds,  who  live  in  a  com- 
fortable way  in  small  cottages  somewhat  neat,  catch- 
ing fish  and  birds  and  eggs  in  summer,  trapping 
pelts  in  winter,  and  clubbing  seals  in  sjn'ing,  besides 
fortifying  their  subsistence  by  the  additional  largess 
of  their  river  patron,  Mr.  Gilmour.  And  the  camp 
itself,  two  miles  up  the  river,  where  so  many  distin- 
guished i)eople  have  been  domiciled,  is  not  the  can- 
vas makeshift  or  riven  hemlock  cabane  of  the  chance 
angler  on  the  coast.  It  is  a  goodly  mansion  with  a 
tempting  verandah,  and  a  tower  three  stories  high 
surmounted  by  a  staff  from  which  red  bunting  flies 
when  the  quarters  are  occupied.  Then  there  is  the 
ice-house  and  kitchen,  the  smoke  house,  boat  house, 
woodhouse,  men's  quarters,  and  other  adjoining 
buildings,  so  that  there  is  quite  a  hamlet.  The 
tower,  by  the  way,  is  no  emulous  rival  of  Babel,  but 


110 


THE   SALMON   USHER. 


was  built  in  large  j^art  to  circumvent  the  mosquitoes 
and  flies  whicli  are  so  tormenting  in  July,  for  when 
the  pests  become  intolerable  it  is  quite  possible  to 
climb  beyond  their  reach,  and  sitting  in  the  brisk 
breeze  which  comes  in  with  the  tide,  watch  with 
complacent  mood  the  vain  attempts  of  the  little 
brutes  to  beat  up  to  windward  and  fasten  to  the  flesh 
under  the  lee  of  one's  hat-brim,  or  the  lobe  of  an  ex- 
panding ear. 

Very  difTerent  is  the  "  bungalow  "  of  the  aesthetic 
Dr.  Baxter  on  the  broad  water  of  the  Restigouche. 
A  mansion  which  cost  $11,000  to  build,  with  spa- 
cious verandahs  and  all  modern  appointments,  over- 
looks the  pool  or  swim  which  rounds  out  his  private 
stretch  of  water  ;  and  there  he  can  lie  in  the  still 
summer  nights  and  hear  the  plash  of  the  sportive 
salmon  which  he  knows  will  be  his  trophies  to-mor- 
row, and  smile  grimly  over  the  fate  which  awaits 
them.  Right  under  the  ridge  on  which  the  house 
stands,  and  between  it  and  the  river,  is  the  railroad; 
and  when  the  mood  to  leave  comes  on,  the  Doctor 
lias  only  to  get  aboard  a  Pullman  coach  at  his  door 
iind  ride  continuously  to  his  home  in  Washington. 


THE    SALMON    FISHER.  Ill 

He  has  no  expense  of  chartering  a  steamer  to  carry 
his  plunder  some  hundreds  of  miles  to  camp,  for 
hard  by  is  the  thrifty  village  of  Campbellton,  which 
can  amply  provide  for  all  his  creature  comforts. 
There  is  at  his  rancherie  abundant  and  suitable  ac- 
commodation for  lady  guests,  and  no  end  of  civiliza- 
tion within  easy  reach,  when  desired  ;  and  if  ennui 
comes,  or  hard  luck  with  the  rod  overtakes  him,  he 
can  readily  seek  consolation  at  the  club  house,  up 
stream,  where  congenial  comj)any  may  be  found. 

The  Godbout  is  the  home  of  the  bachelor!  the 
Restigouche  of  the  Benedict,  happy  in  connubial 
possession,  who  never  leaves  his  wife  behind. 

On  this  same  river,  in  years  agone,  was  visible  an- 
other phase  of  what  may  be  termed  the  *'  luxury  of 
salmon  fishing,"  in  the  shape  of  a  huge  scow  belong- 
ing to  the  Hon.  C.  J.  Brydges,  formerly  of  the  Grand 
Trunk  Railway,  but  now  connected  with  the  Hudson 
Bay  Company's  office  at  Winnipeg,  Manitoba.  The 
cognomen  of  this  wondrous  craft  was  "  Great  Cae- 
sar's Ghost,"  and  it  used  to  flit  merrily  up  and  down 
the  river,  drawn  by  horses,  which  plashed  and  floun- 
dered through  the  long  reaches,  or  alternately  be- 


112 


THE  SALMOV   FISHER. 


took  themselves  to  the  river-bed  or  bank,  as  the 
straits  of  the  route  required.  It  was  fitted  up 
sumptuously,  with  amplitude  of  cabin,  kitchen,  and 
promenade  deck,  and  many  a  royal  load  has  it  taken 
up  to  the  salmon  pools — the  Princess  Louise  and  the 
Marquis  of  Lome,  Earl  Dufferin,  Lord  Stanley,  and 
many  other  notables  of  Great  Britain  and  the  New 
Dominion,  not  to  mention  newly  crested  knights  and 
honorables  of  less  account. 

Col.  Wm.  H.  Rhodes,  of  Quebec,  has  had  a  snug 
cottage  at  Tadousac,  near  the  mouth  of  the  Sague- 
nay,  for  thirty  years,  and  so  had  Robert  Hare  Pow- 
ell, of  Philadelphia,  for  a  long  time.  Willis  Russell, 
Esq.,  of  the  Hotel  St.  Louis,  at  Quebec,  built  six  fish- 
ing cottages  on  the  Marguerite  tributary  of  the  Sa- 
guenay  some  fifteen  years  ago,  which  are  annually 
occupied  and  rented,  and  there  one  can  perhaps  get 
more  fish  and  more  sport,  with  more  comfort,  than  on 
any  other  leased  water  in  Canada.  One  of  these  cot- 
tages has  been  occupied  by  "Walter  M.  Brockett,  the 
Boston  artist,  superlative  in  fish  painting,  ever  since 
it  was  built.  Lately,  at  the  mouth  of  Lake  St.  John, 
!RIessrs.  A.  B.  Scott,  of  Roberval,  and  Wm.  A.  Grif- 


THE   SALMON   FI8HEB. 


113 


:fith,  of  Quebec,  have  erected  private  cottages  for 
summer  salmon  fishing,  and  Harry  Poole  occupies 
an  old  Hudson  Bay  post  on  Alma  Island  near  at 
hand,  where  he  dispenses  hospitality  and  fishing 
privileges  to  all  anglers  of  good  repute  who  wish  to 
try  their  luck  and  skill  with  the  salmo-wininnish. 

The  Quebec  and  Lake  St.  John  Railway  Company 
controls  the  fishing  rights  of  the  Outlet  and  ten 
miles  of  the  Saguenay  River,  which  are  free  to  the 
guests  of  Hotel  Roberval  and  the  Island  House. 
The  latter  is  located  directly  at  the  Discharge,  and 
steamers  ply  constantly  between  the  two  hotels  from 
the  lake-side  to  the  Outlet.  The  Railway  Company 
also  furnish  superb  trout  fishing,  free,  at  Lake  Ed- 
ward and  Lake  Kiskisink. 

It  would  be  easy  to  string  out  reminiscences  of 
personal  observations  on  many  salmon  rivers  which 
I  have  visited  ;  and  sometimes  the  fancy  possesses 
me  that,  were  these  memoirs  engrossed,  I  could  at  a 
time  of  life  when  memory  loves  to  dwell  on  bygones 
and  strength  to  wield  the  two-handed  rod  is  lacking, 
almost  live  my  forest  life  over  again  in  their  perusal. 
3ut  such  reviews,  if  soddened  with  senile  sentiment. 


lU 


THE  SALMON  FISHER. 


can  hardly  enlist  the  sympathies  of  ycung  and  vigor* 
ous  readers,  who  prefer  the  records  of  present  active 
happenings.  Only  a  few  kindred  hearts,  already^ 
seared  and  yellow,  would  perhaps  respond  sponta- 
neously ;  only  a  few  be  persuaded  to  "  take  a  cup  of 
kindness  [now]  for  days  of  auld  lang  syne."  Where- 
fore, I  forbear  I  Sometimes  it  is  almost  sad  to  be 
solitary,  even  upon  a  vivacious  salmon  stream  where 
fish  are  jumping. 


ire 

»y 

a- 
of 
e- 
be 
re 


Mimxaxu  of  ;^aImon  Waltx^. 


r  Y  BOOK  of  the  Salmon  would  not  be  complete 

without  some  sort  of  an  index  of  the  waters 

by  reference  to  which  the  intending  tourisfc 

may   perhaps  more  intelligently  utilize  his  charts. 

"What  signifies  the  pursuit  of  happiness  if  the  way 

l)e  not  made  plain  ? 

In  Part  IV.  I  have  indicated  the  principal  canoe 
routes  of  the  New  Brunswick  district,  though  I  have 
not  named  all  the  rivers.  It  is  the  most  attractive  of 
all  the  salmon  regions  excepting  those  of  Nova  Sco- 
tia, to  which  little  attention  has  been  paid.  -  The 
xivers  of  New  Brunswick  have  been  well  advertised 
«,nd  well  occupied.  The  best  of  them  are  the  noble 
Jlestigouche  and  its  four  great  tributaries,  the  Up- 


I^— =: 


"B 


li  I 


116 


THE   SALMON   FISHER. 


salquitch,  the  Patapedia,  the  Metapedia  and  Tom. 
Kedgwick,  where  the  most  extensive  artificial  propa- 
gating works  of  the  Dominion  are  located;  the  Mir- 
amichi  and  its  several  great  branches,  the  Nepissi- 
guit,  Tabusintac,  Charlo,  and  Jaquet;  the  Kouchi- 
bouquac,  the  St.  John  and  its  great  tributary,  the 
Tobique.  Other  New  Brunswick  rivers  lying  on  the 
south  shore  of  the  St.  Lawrence  River  are  included 
in  the  list  which  appears  farther  on.  No  doubt  New 
Brunswick  has  its  advantages  and  attractions.  There 
is  galore  of  salmon  there,  and  it  is  withal  a  good 
school  for  students  who  wish  to  learn  woodcraft  and 
cultivate  the  virtues  of  self-denial  and  endurance  of 
discomforts  and  hard  commons.  But  for  solid  com- 
fort, pure  and  simple,  with  a  modicum  of  fun,  rec- 
ommend me  to  the  rivers  and  hospitality  of  Nova. 
Scotia.  In  the  first  place,  the  fishing  is  not  bad> 
while  there  is  the  omnipresent  compensation  of  civil- 
ization always  within  reach.  Here  ©ne  can  travel  by^ 
wagon  over  graded  turnpike  roads,  and  have  hi» 
choice  of  a  half  dozen  salmon  rivers  within  the  dis- 
tance of  a  single  day's  journey,  and  there  is  no  end 
of  sea  food,  lobsters,  fresh  vegetables,  strawberries 


THE    SALMON    FISHER. 


117 


and  cream,  eggs  and  poultry;  and  whatever  one 
cannot  find  at  the  towns  and  hamlets  he  can  procure 
between  two  days  by  sending  an  order  to  Halifax. 
Here  on  the  watershed  which  traverses  the  whole 
peninsula  lengthwise,  are  scores  of  delectable  lakes 
filled  with  trout,  out  of  whose  cradle  the  limpid 
rivers  leap  to  the  pulsating  bosom  of  the  estuaries 
by  the  seaside.  Driving  along  the  shore  we  cross 
these  rivers  at  frequent  intervals,  keeping  the  ocean 
constantly  in  view  on  the  one  side,  and  the  alternate 
forests  and  hamlets  on  the  other.  Far  out  on  the 
horizon  clusters  of  islands  loom  up  in  the  haze  or 
sparkle  like  gems  in  the  sunshine.  When  the 
weather  is  fine  the  coast  scenery  is  entrancing;  but 
intermittent  fogs  are  apt  to  shut  off  the  landscape 
betimes.  Whenever  they  lift  and  dissolve  the  beau- 
ties of  Nature  are  enhanced  ten-fold  by  contrast. 

The  rivers  of  Nova  Scotia  are  short,  never  exceed- 
ing fifteen  miles  in  length,  so  that  the  salmon  have 
only  a  holiday  journey  from  the  sea  to  their  sj^awn- 
ing  beds;  hence  they  are  able  to  perform  their  ex- 
acting duties  of  procreation  with  that  comfort  and 
immunity  from  distress  which  is  so  graciously  vouch- 


118 


THE   SALMON    FISHER. 


|!i  I 


i-i: 


l£- 


il 


safed  to  the  well-to-do  and  high-born.  They  are 
always  comely  to  look  upon,  because  ill-conditioned 
fish  drop  readily  back  to  the  sea.  Kelts  are  seldom 
seen.  There  are  comparatively  few  flies  or  gnats  to 
torment  one,  and  the  variety  of  food  and  landscape 
gives  spice  to  life.  The  fishing,  too,  is  practically 
free,  and  in  going  to  the  Province  the  course  is  short 
and  direct.  The  angler  avoids  the  taxing  tedium  of 
long  canoe  voyages,  or  the  protracted  journey  by 
sea,  en  route,  as  on  the  lower  St.  Lawrence  rivers. 
There  are  direct  steamers  now  from  New  York  and 
Boston  to  St.  John,  Halifax,  Digby  and  Yarmouth, 
and  when  once  the  destination  is  reached  the  angler 
can  readily  choose  some  farmhouse  or  hostelry  for 
his  headquarters,  and  then  tramp  leisurely  from 
brook  to  river,  fishing  as  he  goes,  possessing  his  soul 
in  patience,  and  succeeding  in  one  stream  where  he 
fails  in  another;  or  he  may  send  on  his  luggage  in 
advance,  and  fish  up  to  it,  day  by  day.  This  is  the 
economical  method.  Or  he  can  hire  a  vehicle  by  the 
week,  or  by  the  trip,  or  job.  There  is  only  one  seri- 
ous drawback.  He  cannot  dispose  of  his  trout. 
Perhaps  he  can  bribe  his  landlady  to  cook  what  he 


THE    SALMON    FISHER. 


119 


wants  for  liis  breakfast  or  supper,  but  he  cannot  sell 
or  give  them  away;  and  if  he  be  much  of  a  salmon 
angler,  he  will  care  little  for  trout,  anyhow.  The 
principal  rivers  of  Nova  Scotia  lie  in  the  south west- 
€rn  counties,  and  are  the  Jordan,  Liverpool,  Port 
Medway,  Le  Have,  Gold,  East  and  Middle  rivers. 
July  is  late  for  these  rivers,  as  the  season  opens 
usually  in  February.  In  the  middle  part  of  the 
Province  are  Indii\n  River,  Tangier,  and  Middle 
River,  in  Halifax  County.  The  St.  Mary's  is  in 
Guysboro,  east  of  Halifax.  All  of  these  have  been, 
or  are,  fair  salmon  rivers.  On  the  Basin  of  Minas, 
Bay  of  Fundy  side,  are  several  fair  streams.  This  is 
the  Cobequid  District,  famous  for  its  moose  as  well 
as  its  fishing.  The  season  for  salmon  begins  here  in 
June.  On  the  north  shore  is  River  Phillip,  famous 
since  the  settlement  of  the  Province  for  its  great 
trout,  and  now  used  by  the  Government  for  propa- 
gating salmon.  Farther  east,  nearly  at  the  land's 
end  in  Cape  Breton,  is  that  famous  salmon  stream, 
the  Margarie.  There  are  no  salmon  on  Prince  Ed- 
ward's Island.  In  Newfoundland  are  the  River  of 
Exploits*  the  Humber,  Gander,  Castor,  and  half  a 


I'' 


120 


THE   SALMON   FISHER. 


dozen  more  good  salmon  rivers,  accessible  by  regu- 
lar steamer  from  Halifax  to  St.  Johns,  and  thence  by 
steam  tug  or  chaloupe.  Anticosti  Island  furnishes 
the  Jupiter  and  Dauphine  rivers,  which  may  be 
reached  by  chaloupes  from  Quebec  in  the  fishing 
season;  and  then  come  the  salmon  rivers  of  the  St. 
Lawrence  system,  which  are  annually  becoming  of 
increasing  imiDortance  as  rivers  for  rod  fishing.  Two 
years  ago  many  of  these  would  hardly  have  been 
looked  at  by  sportsmen;  yet  at  the  auction  of  leases 
held  at  Quebec  in  January  (1890),  they  brought  fair 
prices,  while  one  favorite  stream  on  the  Bay  Chaleur 
realized  as  high  as  $1,250.  As  it  will  be  interesting 
to  obtain  some  idea  of  the  revenue  which  the  Do- 
minion derives  from  its  leases  of  salmon  rivers  for 
purely  angling  purposes,  I  append  the  list  of  those 
which  were  officially  advertised  at  the  January  sale, 
and  have  added  several  which  were  disposed  of  at 
private  sale,  as  well  as  some  which  were  withdraAvn 
on  account  of  disputed  fishing  rights  claimed  by  the 
proprietors  of  the  Mingan  Seignory,  besides  a  few 
which  are  of  small  account.  As  it  stands,  it  is  very 
nearly  a  complete  list  of  all  the  salmon  rivers  of  the 


THE   SALMON'  FISHER. 


121 


east  Atlantic  coast  lying  between  Belle  Isle  and  the 
southern  point  of  the  Bay  Chaleur.  The  names  of 
present  lessees  are  also  given  so  far  as  I  have  been 
able  to  ascertain  them: 


NORTH  SHORE. 

17AHES  OF  BIVEB8.  OWNERS  OR  LESSEES^ 

The  Bergeronnes— 132  miles  from  Quebec Tadousac  Hotel 

Escoumain 

Portneuf — 146  miles  from  Quebec 

Bersamis 

Murray D.  C.  Thompson,  Quebeo 

Laval C.  W.  Phillip». 

Blanche,    ) 

Plover,       I  indifferent  streams ► 

Columbia, ) 

Betsiamite 

Manicouagan— 220  miles  from  Quebec 

Mistassini ^ 

Godbout > 

Trinity 

Little  Trinity J.  D.  Gilmour- 

Calumet — 364  miles  from  Quebec ^ 

Moislc 

Little  Saguenay N.  P.  Rogers,  New  York 

St.  John  (Chicoutimi) Senator  Price 

A  Mara " 

Sainte  Marguerite  (west  branch) Wm.  Russell,  Quebeo- 

••  (north  branch) W.  M.  Brackctt,  Bonton 

•«  (from  head  of  tidal  water  to  the  confluence  of  the  two 

branches) Wm.  Russell 

Saguenay  (part) - 


3.22  THE  SALMON   FISHER. 

Mastigoiiche  (and  tributary  waters) 

Little  Castor  Noir ' 

Dickey 

Inlands  of  the  Grand  D^charge  (Saguenay) 

Aux  Rats 

Jeannotte 

Grand  D^charge  (Saguenay) 

Little  Bergeronnes 

Margaret  and  tributaries 

Manitou Judge  Dugan.  Montreal 

Sheldrake J.  G.  A.  Creighton 

Thunder. 

-Saint  John  and  tributaries  (north  shore) H.  W.  DeForest,  New  Yotk 

IMingan Dr.  Campbell,  Montreal 

Bomaine E.  C.  Fitely,  Boston 

Magpie H.  Abbott,  Montreal 

€orneille T.  Bacon 

Nabissippi Judge  Dugan,  Montreal 

"Watpheeshoo  (Grand) 

(Little) 

Pashasheboo 

Nabesii)i 

■Agwanus  

Grand  Natashquan— 571  miles  from  Quebec 

St.  Francis  or  Alexis  River — east  coast  of  Labrador 

•Goynish 

Kegashka 

Musquarro  (Grand) 

(Little) 

Washeecootai J.  G.  A.  Creighton 

Olomonasheeboo Capt.  Joneas 

Etamamiou J.  G.  A.  Creighton 

JN'otagamiou 


THE   SALMON   FISHER.  125< 

Coacoachoo 

Little  Mecatina 

Saint  Augustin  and  tributaries S.  Campbell 

Saint  Paul 

Little  Esquimau 

SOUTH  SHORE. 
Rimouski ^ 

Grand  Metis 

St.  Anne  des  Monts 

Mont  Louis 

Madeleine 

Kestigouche,  1st  part Rcstigouche  Club 

"  2d     "    "  " 

••  3d     '*    "  •• 

"  4th    "    

••  5th    ••    

TJpsalquitch 

Casoupscal Sir  George  Stephens 

Mctapedia "  " 

Patapj^dia 

Escumt'nac 

Nouvelle Mr.  Ware,  New  York 

Grand  Cascapedia Governor-General  ot  Canada 

Little  Cascapedia Mr.  Ramsay,  Montreal 

Bonaventure Wm.  Thorne,  St.  John 

Grand  Pabos 

Little  Pabos Louis  Cabot,  Boston^ 

Grand  River 

Saint  John  (Gasp^) R.  Turner,  Quebec- 
Dartmouth  H.  P.  Wells,  New  York 

Yori Mr.  Murdoch,  Chicago 

Cap-Chat 

Matane H.  W.  De  Forest,  New  Y^ork 


!     V, 


P«! 


m 


m 


V    ■ 

I  i 


124 


THE   SALMON    FISHER. 


There  are  perhaps  120  salmon  rivers  within  the 
Dominion  of  Canada,  not  including  those  of  the  Pa- 
cific side,  which  might  yield  fair  si)ort  to  the  rod. 
Most  of  these  have  been  designated  by  name  in  my 
list,  but  there  are  rivers  on  the  east  Atlantic  lying 
north  of  Belle  Isle  Strait,  on  the  coast  of  Labrador, 
which  have  never  been  fished  with  a  fly.  Once,  as 
long  ago  as  18G0,  I  wet  a  fev/  hackles  in  some  of 
them  in  the  course  of  the  season,  but  the  results 
were  not  satisfactory — chiefly  from  lack  of  experi- 
'Cuce — for  the  waters  teemed  with  fish.  Some  of 
these  rivers  are  attracting  the  attention  of  anglers, 
and  they  will  soon  be  in  demand,  no  doubt.  There 
must  be  a  dozen  in  all.  There  are  three  or  four  on 
IByron's  Bay,  and  an  equal  number  in  Sandwich  Bay, 
between  latitude  54°  and  56°.  Midway  between  the 
two  is  the  great  Esquimaux  Bay,  known  also  as 
Gross  Water  and  Ivucktok  Inlet,  into  which  empty 
the  Nor'west  Biver,  the  Hamilton  and  Tom  Liscom, 
all  salmon  rivers.  There  are  two  Hudson  Bay  posts 
on  this  bay,  namely,  Rigolet  and  Nor'west  rivers,  and 
■  he  Esquimaux  who  reside  there  cure  a  good  many 
3almon  for  their  own  use  and  for  the  consumption  of 


THE   SALMON   FISHER. 


125 


►ay, 
the 
as 
^pty 
)in, 
>stB 
land 
[any 
of 


the  employees  at  the  two  stations.  These  rivers  take 
their  rise  in  the  great  Laiirentian  watershed  which 
bisects  the  peninsula  and  separates  the  northern  and 
southern  districts,  and  which  continues  to  the  shores 
of  Lake  St.  John.  Altogether  there  are  five  Hudson 
Bay  Company  posts  in  Labrador,  and  trails  lead  from 
one  to  the  other,  the  most  northern  post  being  Fort 
Chimo,  on  Ungava  Bay,  now  presided  over  by  Bobert 
Crawford,  formerly  of  Bed  Bock,  on  the  Nepigon. 
Upon  the  plateau  of  this  great  watershed,  which 
drains  a  territory  of  450,000  square  miles,  are  innu- 
merable lakes,  some  of  which  are  of  vast  extent  and 
others  small.  These  lakes  are  the  sources  of  all  the 
Laurentian  salmon  streams,  as  well  as  of  hundreds 
of  other  streams  barren  of  salmon,  which,  like  Mont- 
morenci,  find  their  way  to  the  sea  or  river  over  pre- 
cipitous falls  from  150  to  400  feet  in  height.  To  the 
visitor  who  navigates  this  rock-bound  coast  in  sum- 
mer, these  falls  greatly  relieve  the  sombre  effect  of 
a  usually  monotonous  landscape,  though  there  are 
bits  of  scenery  as  picturesque  and  rugged  as  the 
coasts  of  Norway  and  the  North  Cape. 

Verily,  the  quest  of  the  Salmon  Fisher  leads  him 


1  ? 


I'   ! 


to  the  by-places  of  the  Earth  which  other  men  sel- 
dom visit.  It  is  only  once  in  a  generation  that  a 
Charles  Lanman  or  a  Walter  Black  arises  to  make 
their  bald  rocks  oracular,  or  attempts  to  portray 
their  charms. 

END. 


lel- 
b  a 
ike 
ray 


ONLY 

38  honni  from  New 
York,  29  hours 
from  Bos- 
ton, 

To  Roberval, 
Lake  St.  John. 


ANOLEB I  Did  you  ever  catch  a  fresh-water  salmon  ?  If  not,  try  Lake 
St.  John.    Or,  if  you  want  the  largest  of  brook  trout,  try  Lake  Edward. 

Bring  your  families  at  the  same  time  to  enjoy  some  of  the  most  delight- 
ful scenery  in  America.  Comfortable  hotels  at  Roberval  and  at  Metabet- 
chouan.  Lake  St.  John,  190  miles,  and  at  Lake  Edward,  115  miles  from  Que- 
bec. Express  trains  each  way  daily.  For  particulars  of  lakes  and  fishing 
read  "Adirondack"  Murray's  "Doom  of  Mamelons,"  or  Kit  Clarke's 
"Where  the  Trout  Hide."  For  folders  and  other  information  address 
ALEX.  HARDY,  General  Passenger  Agent,  Quebec,  or,  G.  LEVE,  45  Broad- 
way, New  York. 

Fishing  free  to  all  at  Lake  Edward,  and  free  to  guests  of  Hotel  Roberval 
in  Lake  St.  John  and  its  tributaries. 

J.  G.  SCOTT,  Secretary  and  Manager,  92  St.  Peter  Street,  Quebec. 


HOTEL  ROBERVAL,  LAKE  ST.  JOHN. 

Run  in  connection  with  the  Island  House,  Grand  Discharge. 

Controlling  the  fishing  rights  of  the  celebrated  Ouananiche,  or  Lake  St. 
John  Salmon,  of  Lake  St.  John  and  tributaries,  together  with  the  Outlet 
and  ten  miles  of  the  Saguenay  River,  making  this  the  most  attractive  fish* 
ing  ground  in  North  America.    Free  to  the  guests  of  above  hotels. 

For  particulars  see  illustrated  circular  at  all  Ticket  Offices. 


in 


K'  IM 


I' 


'•^    s 


K      » 


TO  HOOK  AND  KILL 


,        USE 

H.  L.  Leonard's  Split  Bamboo  Rod, 

H.  L.  Leonard's  Patent  Salmon  Reels 
(with  adjustable  graduating  drag), 

W.  M.  &  8.  **  Imperial "  Salmon  Lines, 
and  W.  M.  &  S.  Leaders, 

which  are  uno(iualled. 

While  all  of  the  above  goods  are  above  comment,  w« 
also  have  other  lines  of  goods  at  PRICES  CONSISTENT 
WITH  QUALITIES  in  their  several  grades,  suitable  for 
Salmon  and  i 

ALL.   KINDS   OF   ANGLINO. 


WILLIAM  MILLS  &  SON, 

XTo.  7  Warren  Street,,  New  York. 


( 


) 


ffl 


ESTABLISH  £n    1837. 

WM.  MITCHELL  &  SON., 

MANL'FACTirRKR«5  OF 

FINE  FISHING  RODS 

FOR 

AiA  KXVDS   or   rZSRZVO, 

No.  I  DesbroBses  Street,  New  York. 

THE  MITCHELL  PATENT 
ROD  is  the  only  Rod  made  on 
scientific  principles  throughout. 
In  it  no  part  of  Rod  but  has  its 
part  ot  tne  spring  and  bears  its 
portion  of  tne  strain.  A  Sal- 
mon Rod  has  18  inches  and  a 
Trout  Fly-rod  10  inches  more 
spring  than  any  other  Rod 
made.  W.  M.  &  Son  make  a 
specialty  of  fine  Salmon  and 
Trout  Fly-rods  to  order. 

Explanation  of  Illustration : 
The  Rod  joint  having  a  female 
ferrule  screw  on  the  end,  is 
passed  through  the  butt  and  se- 
cured in  position  by  a  male 
screw*  in  tne  end  of  the  butt. 
The  interior  of  the  butt  is  made 
sufficiently  large  to  allow  the 
joint  to  bend  from  end  to  end. 
By  this  arrangement  a  uniform 
strain  and  spring  is  obtained 
throughout  the  entire  length  of 
the  Rod. 


"Pi 

1 :  ■  ^i 


W'MlU 


if,  I 


n 


m 


FISHING. 
CAMPING. 


For  several  years  past  I  have  made  a  specialty  of  fine 
Fishing  Tackle  and  Camping  Goods,  and  at  the  present 
time  my  stock  is  more  complete  than  ever  before. 

In  Tackle  I  can  supply  everything  necessary  tor  taking 
all  kinds  of  fish  trom  a  minnow  to  a  mascalonge,  a  speckled 
trout  to  a  "  Silver  King  "  tarpon,  or  from  a  sunfish  to  a 
shark. 

In  Camping  Goods  I  have  the  finest  stock  in  the  United 
States,  and  am  constantly  importing  new  novelties  that  will 
add  to  the  comfort  of  the  sportsman  in  the  woods. 

Camp  Kits,  Pack  Baskets,  Luncheon  Panniers,  Picnic 
Baskets,  Traveling  Comforts,  Sandwich  Boxes,  genuine 
Birch  Bark,  Cedar  and  Canvas  Canoes,  Sleeping  Bags, 
Rubber  beds  and  blankets,  Folding  Camp  Furniture,  Mex- 
ican Hammocks,  Tents,  Jack  Lamps,  etc.,  are  only  a  few 
of  the  thousand  and  one  things  that  I  keep  in  stock  all  the 
time  and  can  supply  at  a  moment's  notice. 

Send  50  cents  for  superb  catalogue  of  sportsmen's  supplies.    Over  700  il- 
lustrations.   Money  returned  with  first  dollar's  worth  of  goods  purchased. 

HENRY  C.  SQUIRES, 

178  Broadway,  New  York. 


il- 


Pronounced  by  the  many 
anglers  who  have  examined  it 
to  be  the  best  and  most  per- 
fect rod  ever  made.  The 
FAULTS  OF  ALL  other  rods 
are  finally  overcome  and  cor- 
rected in  this.  DON'T  BUY 
YOUR  KOD  FOR  THIS  SEA- 
SON before  looking  at  "  THE 
KOSMIC."  ASK  TO  SEE  IT 
AT  YOUR  DEALER'S.  NOT 
FINDING  IT,  heed  NO  advice 
in  favor  of  another  article, 
BUT  COME  DIRECT  or  send 
to  our  store  and  see  or  receive 
description  of  the  ONLY  PER- 
FECT ROD  IN  EXISTENCE. 

EVERY  ONE  WARRANTED. 

It  will  interest  you  to  look 
at  this  beautiful  Rod,  which 
affords  us  pleasure  to  recom- 
mend to  all  anglers. 

A.  G.  SPALDING  &  BROS., 

CHICAGO:  NEW  YORK: 

xo8  Madison  St.  241-343  Broadway. 

PHILADELPHIA:    losa  Market  St. 


M 


i    ^. 


'I;,  J 


ANGLING    LITERATURE. 

ThA  fishes  of  North  Ajnerica.  By  William  C.  ITarrts,  Editor  of 
"The  American  Angler."  Mr.  Harris  in  bis  prospectuHannonnceH:  Tlie  design 
of  this  vrork  is  to  funiiHti  a  text  hook  for  the  student  and  a  liindergarten  siudy 
for  the  angler.  To  aid  in  this  object  the  fish  will  be  shown  in  an  upright  posi- 
tion, that  of  the  act  of  swimming,  and  extreme  care  lias  been  talien  not  oniy  to 
ffiye  tuo  coloration  in  life,  but  also  with  distinctness  the  specific  markings,  in- 
cluding tlie  exact  number  of  spines  or  rays  in  the  fin  construction.  Eacn  fish 
to  be  presented  has  been,  or  will  be,  caught  on  my  own  rod,  with  the  artist, 
ready  for  work,  within  a  short  distance  from  the  pool,  or  with  his  easel  in  the 
stern  sheets  of  the  boHt.  The  terms  will  be  $1..V)  per  number,  and  the  first  part 
will  be  issued  at  an  early  date.    The  subscription  books  are  now  open. 

Fish  and  Fishinsr  in  America.  By  William  r.  Harris,  Editor  of 
"  The  American  Angler."  This  work  will  be  issued  as  a  companion  volume  to 
"The  Fishes  of  North  America,"  and  is  a  practical  angling  text  book.  It  will 
contain :  A  tabulated  list  of  fishes,  over  2(i0  in  number,  caught  on  houk  and  line 
in  American  waters,  with  their  popular  and  scientific  names;  an  illustration  in 
ink  and  crayon  of  the  fish  of  the  salt  and  fresh  waters  that  are  so  caught;  a 
practical  essay  on  each  fish  and  detailed  methods  of  luring  them ;  descriptions, 
and  illustrations  of  angling  devices  used  by  American  anglers,  etc.  The  work 
will  be  publislied  by  sunscription  in  forty  numbers,  issued  at  the  rate  of  one 
part  each  month,  and  oftener  if  practicable.  Price  50  cents  per  number.  Ready 
for  issue  in  about  ninety  days. 

The  Tarpon,  or  "Silver  King*."    By  Col.  f.  s.  pincknet  ('  Ben 

Bent").  A  thoroughly  exhaustive  and  practical  angling  work  on  this  king  of 
salt-water  fishes,  with  notes  by  W.  H.  Wood,  the  pioneer  of  tarpon  fishing. 
Houdsomely  bound  in  cloth,  with  gold  and  silver-mounted  cover.  Price  $1, 
post  paid. 

The  Sportsman's  Onide  to  the  shooting  and  Hunting  Grounds  of  the 
United  States  and  Canada.  Many  thousands  of  snooting  and  hunting  grounds 
accessible  to  the  field  sportsman  are  herein  located,  anu  wherever  the  shooting 
is  good,  bad  or  inditferent,  the  facts  are  plainly  stated.  Bound  in  cloth.  By 
mail,  $1. 

The  Al^ler'S  Guide  Book,  in  collating  the  material  for  this  guide 
book,  17,H27  special  communications  and  2,500  pages  of  "  The  American  Angler  " 
and  other  accredited  authorities  have  been  received,  examined,  and,  in  journal- 
istic parlance,  "boiled  down."  The  result  is  before  the  reader  in  the  form  of 
2,518  centre  points  from  whence  over  8,00i)  angling  waters  are  more  or  less  ac- 
cessible.   Bound  in  cloth.    By  mail,  $1. 

The  Fishes  of  the  East  Atlantic  Coast,    a  practical  text  book  on 

thesalt-water  fishes  of  the  Atlantic  coast,  giving  the  scientific  and  ]>opuIar  de- 
scriptions, habits,  habitat,  when,  where  and  how  to  catch  them,  of  torty-two 
fishes  that  are  caught  with  hook  and  line;  twenty-eight  engravings  drawn  from 
nature.    Handsomely  bound  in  cloth.    Price  $1.5ci. 

THE  HARRIS  PUBLISHING  CO.,  10  Warren  St.,  N.  Y. 


